Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 January 2015
98. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of recipients of one parent family payment plus a half rate carer's allowance who will be impacted by the lowering of the qualifying age of a child scheduled to take effect in July 2015; and the amount of the weekly reduction from social welfare that they will experience as a consequence. [2938/15]
View answerWhen introducing the OFP scheme age change reforms, a special provision was included for recipients who are claiming the domiciliary care allowance (DCA) payment for a disabled child aged under 16 years.
In these circumstances, the OFP payment is extended beyond the maximum age limit of the scheme and paid until the child for whom the DCA is in payment reaches the age of 16 years. This special provision ensures that OFP recipients who care for a disabled child will continue to receive support until that child reaches the age of 16 years and can apply for the disability allowance (DA) in their own right.
As a result of this special provision, 1,650 lone parents will continue to receive the OFP payment and will not be affected by the OFP scheme age change reforms on 2 July, 2015. Many of these individuals will also be in receipt of a half-rate carer’s allowance. It should be noted that the half-rate carer’s allowance is only payable for children aged under 16 years where the DCA is also in payment.
Approximately 800 other customers who are claiming both the OFP and half-rate carer’s allowance payments are caring for another person (i.e. an adult or a child aged 16 years or over) and, as such, are not in receipt of the DCA payment. These customers will transition out of the OFP scheme on 2 July, 2015, and will have their carer’s allowance claim automatically assessed and re-rated to a full-rate carer’s allowance payment of €204 per week and €29.80 per week for each qualified child.
This results in an income loss of €86 per week as these lone parents are moving from one-and-a-half payments to a single full-rate carer’s allowance payment. This is the most advantageous option that is available to these lone parents. These individuals will retain their existing secondary benefits such as the respite care grant, the household benefit package and free travel.
Historically, the transition of recipients from the OFP scheme to the carer’s allowance scheme has always occurred in this manner, with concurrent OFP and half-rate carer’s allowance entitlement being replaced with full-rate carer’s allowance entitlement once the maximum age limit of the youngest child is reached.
