Written Answers Nos. 200-216
200. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if the income a parent receives for the domiciliary care allowance in respect of the extra costs incurred for a child because of their special circumstances is taken into account as household income when considering an application for rent supplement under the supplementary welfare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7996/15]
View answer214. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the plans in place and the progress that has been made to provide young persons on a reduced rate of payment, trapped in homelessness, with the support and financial means to exit homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8181/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 214 together.
The rent supplement scheme provides support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are currently approximately 70,700 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015.
Rent supplement is subject to a means test which is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of basic supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources.
Under social welfare legislation payment received under the domiciliary care allowance scheme is classed as non-assessable means for the purposes of calculating rent supplement and is excluded from the assessment of means.
The reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance for younger persons encourage young jobseekers to improve their skills and remain active in the labour market in order to avoid the risk of becoming long-term unemployed. Where a person is in receipt of a reduced rate of jobseeker's allowance and he or she participates in a course of education or training a higher rate of €160 applies.
The aim of the Youth Guarantee is to provide young people under the age of 25 with a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a short time of becoming unemployed. The main plank of the guarantee is assistance to young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs, through earlier and enhanced engagement processes. In addition, additional places on a number of programmes and youth-oriented variants of existing schemes have been rolled out. Young people who are assessed as having a low to medium probability of securing employment in the absence of any support, will receive a Youth Guarantee offer within four months of an initial one-to-one interview.
The Department is actively engaging with Tusla and non-Government organisations in providing the necessary support to vulnerable young people leaving care who are experiencing homelessness or in insecure situations. These cases are managed on a case by case basis and the payment of deposits and rent in advance is considered. This form of assistance is very important to those on low incomes who are at risk of, or who are homeless, or who rely on the private rented market to meet their housing needs.
In 2014, the Department made a total of some 3,000 payments of rent deposits/rent in advance at a cost of €1.48 million throughout the country, of which some 850 payments at a cost of over €360,000 were made to persons’ aged under 25 years.
201. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason the free travel companion pass for visually impaired children is not widened to include children with other physical or intellectual disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8010/15]
View answer202. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the current situation where parents of certain children with disabilities may qualify for free travel if they are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance and qualify for carer’s allowance, but the child for whom the allowance is granted is not eligible for free travel; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8011/15]
View answer203. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection outside of school transport schemes for children with special education needs and the free travel companion pass for visually impaired children, the free travel schemes that are available for intellectually or disabled children under 16 years of age; her views that this cohort is adequately catered for, in terms of free travel entitlements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8012/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 201 to 203, inclusive, together.
There are currently approximately 800,000 people in Ireland in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million per annum.
The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66, including those with learning disabilities, must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme. The qualifying payments for those aged under 66 are invalidity pension, blind pension, disability allowance, carer’s allowance or an equivalent social security payment from a country covered by EC Regulations or one with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement. Free travel is provided for people in receipt of carer’s allowance to facilitate their caring role and support their social inclusion.
There is a provision for free travel passes for visually impaired children who satisfy the medical conditions for the blind pension. The provision is a long-standing one based on supports for the blind, including the blind pension, that predated other supports for the disabled.
Children with other disabilities may qualify for the domiciliary care allowance. This is a monthly payment of €309.50 to the carer of a child with a disability. The allowance may be used for the additional costs involved in caring for the child and this may include additional transport costs. On most transport services children under 16 years of age are charged fares at special concessionary child rates.
Any decision to extend the free travel scheme to persons who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
204. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in view of the outstanding performance of the disability activation project also know as Project DAWN in the Roscommon Disability Support Group DALE Centre, Derrane, County Roscommon, in exceeding its targets in the first seven month of operation, if she will make provision for the extension of European Social Fund co-funding beyond April 2015, thereby preventing the negative impact the project's termination would have on its 170 participants, their families, and the six employees who will lose their jobs and their families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8071/15]
View answerThe project to which the Deputy refers is one of 14 Disability Activation Projects (DACT), which are being jointly funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department. The DACT projects commenced at the end of 2012 and will end on 30 April 2015, as the ESF portion of the funding was provided under the Human Capital Investment Operational Programme 2007- 2013 and this programme has recently come to an end.
There is therefore no provision for ESF co-funding arrangements to continue beyond the end of April next. This position was recently communicated to the individual projects and it was pointed out that the terms of the grant agreement with each DACT project stipulated that the project must be delivered and completed by the end of April this year.
I very much welcomed and supported the setting up of these projects as they set out to explore a variety of routes towards ensuring that people with disabilities are enabled to avail of progression, education and development opportunities within the world of work. However, the projects were not intended to become ongoing service delivery organisations.
The Department has now commissioned an independent evaluation of the projects and a key part of this evaluation will be to identify from the projects what works with regard to increasing the capacity and potential of people on disability/illness welfare payments to participate in the labour market, and which of those are capable, where appropriate, of being mainstreamed in the delivery of supports to people with disabilities in the future. In the meantime, the Department is considering the position of those people who will still be participating in the projects at the end of April.
205. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if particular family circumstances will be taken into consideration when considering the application for an exceptional needs payment to discharge funeral debt in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [8102/15]
View answerAccording to the Department’s records the person concerned has received the maximum amount payable in line with ENP guidelines.
206. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if family circumstances will be taken into consideration when considering an application for an exceptional needs payment to discharge funeral debt in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8103/15]
View answerAccording to departmental records, the person concerned has received a payment in line with ENP guidelines.
207. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she deems it acceptable that a 23-year-old living with their parents may be limited to a payment of €100 per week, under the age-related jobseeker's allowance scheme, and on top of this, have their payment more than halved, arising from an assessment of the income of their parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8118/15]
View answerThe jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2015 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €3.01 billion.
In the case of persons aged under 25 years of age, the means test for jobseeker’s allowance takes account of the value of any benefit and privilege enjoyed by a claimant as a result of residing with a parent or step-parent. The calculation of such value is based on the level of parental net income. Parental income is calculated as gross income less tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge, superannuation and union dues. Rent or mortgage repayments are disregarded, where appropriate and a parental allowance of €600 per week per couple plus €50 per week in respect of other dependent children applies. The balance is assessed at 34% and this constitutes the weekly value of benefit and privilege. Once the person concerned reaches 25 years of age, the value of any benefit and privilege will no longer be regarded as means.
Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009. Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance to recipients under 26 years of age. This is a targeted measure aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency. It aims to incentivise young jobseeker’s allowance recipients to avail of education and training opportunities. If a jobseeker in receipt of the reduced jobseeker’s allowance rate participates on an education or training programme he or she will receive a higher weekly payment of €160.
To guard against the development of welfare dependency I believe that it is necessary to provide young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. If they do not improve their skills, it will be much more difficult for them to avail of job opportunities as the economy recovers and they are at risk of becoming long-term unemployed from a young age.
The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth and the availability of productive employment for young people. This strategy has been succeeding, with an increase of over 80,000 in employment over the last two years.
Reflecting the improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment continues to fall. For example the youth unemployment rate in Ireland as estimated by Eurostat was 21.6% in December 2014 as compared to 30.8% in December 2011. However, the Government recognises that as the recovery takes hold, there is a need for additional measures to ensure that as many as possible of the jobs created are taken up by jobseekers and young jobseekers in particular. This is the rationale behind the Government’s Pathways to Work strategy and the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan.
208. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the full extent of entitlement to a disability allowance-invalidity pension in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8122/15]
View answerAn application for disability allowance (DA) from the person concerned was disallowed by a deciding officer (DO) on 4 February 2012 on the grounds that his weekly means exceeded the statutory limit allowable in his case. The person concerned was notified of that decision and the reasons for it on the same date.
There is currently no DA application registered for the person concerned. If he considers that he may qualify, it is open to him to submit a new application for assessment and decision.
Invalidity Pension is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the contribution conditions.
An application for Invalidity Pension (IP) was received from the person concerned on 19 January 2012. This application was disallowed by a DO on the grounds that he did not satisfy the contribution conditions for IP. The person concerned did not have the necessary 48 paid or credited contributions in the governing contribution year i.e. 2011, which was the last contribution year prior to his application date.
The person concerned appealed the decision to the social welfare appeals office (SWAO). His appeal was disallowed and he was notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision on 04 March 2014.
If the person in question is incapable of work, he may qualify for the award of credited PRSI contributions for the period of his incapacity. For more information he should consult the department’s illness benefit section, the department’s website at www.welfare.ie or his local citizen’s information service.
209. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the information that is recorded on a person's birth certificate; and if it includes the mother's date of birth. [8129/15]
View answerPart 1 of the First Schedule to the Civil Registration Act 2004 sets out the required particulars to be entered in the Register of Births. These are as follows:
Date and place of birth.
Time of birth.
Sex of child.
Forename(s) and surname of child.
Forename(s), surname, birth surname, address and occupation of mother.
Former surname(s) (if any) of mother.
Date of birth of mother.
Civil status of mother.
Personal public service number of mother.
Birth surname of mother’s mother.
Forename(s), surname, birth surname, address and occupation of father.
Former surname(s) (if any) of father.
Date of birth of father.
Civil status of father.
Personal public service number of father.
Birth surname of father’s mother.
Forename(s), surname, qualification, address and signature of informant.
Date of registration.
Signature of registrar.
However, while these details are required when a birth is being registered and are recorded on the Civil Registration Service system, the parents’ PPS numbers, their civil status and their dates of birth do not appear on the birth certificate.
The requirement for parents to provide their date of birth for birth registrations was introduced in 2003.
210. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason her Department has ceased funding a community arts project (details supplied) in Dublin11; and if she will review this decision in view of the invaluable contribution this project makes to the community. [8143/15]
View answerThe scheme in question has been sponsored and managed by the City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB). This Department was advised in December 2014 that, following a strategic review of all their services in the community, the CDETB had decided to wind up the community employment (CE) project that encompassed the Finglas Arts Project.
To facilitate an orderly closure the Department agreed to extend the current project beyond its scheduled finish date which was 31 January 2015. An ‘Amendment to Agreement Contract’ was issued to the CDETB with a revised finish date of 30 June 2015 (or sooner if appropriate). This extension was agreed to enable Supervisors on the scheme to engage with all participants and commence work on an exit strategy with immediate effect; to include the transfer of participants to other local projects, employment, or further education. It is also envisaged that, if possible, the two existing CE supervisors will be re-deployed to other projects.
211. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 559 of 10 February 2015, if she will investigate the situation whereby school secretaries have to sign-on every time they take holidays and are not paid for the first days of their claim; and if a more user-friendly, efficient service will be put in place whereby persons can sign on once a year at the start of the school term if they have a letter from their school. [8155/15]
View answerA jobseeker’s payment is paid for days of unemployment where the person is not in receipt of holiday pay and satisfies the conditions of the scheme. School secretaries who are employed on a temporary basis and who have already been in contact with the Department are issued with a repeat jobseeker’s application form and holiday form in advance of the school holiday periods. This facilitates an efficient service to these customers. However, it is important to note that they are still required to sign on for each period of unemployment.
Initially when a person makes an application for jobseeker’s benefit, three waiting days apply and payment is from the fourth day of the claim where there is no accrued holiday entitlement. If a person makes a repeat claim for jobseeker’s benefit with 26 weeks of their previous claim, the repeat claim links to the earlier claim and no waiting days apply.
213. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will intervene in the case of a person (details supplied) who has mobility difficulties and who has requested, on a medical consultant's advice, to be assigned to an office which that person can reasonably access, rather than the currently assigned office, due to the fact that the currently assigned office is having an adverse effect on that person's overall health; the reason this person's repeated requests for a transfer to an accessible office have been ignored for over a year; if she will ensure that this request is now accommodated in order to avoid a staff member having to give up employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8170/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, as Minister I have no role or function in relation to the assignment of staff of the Department to particular offices or functions.
For operational reasons in the context of the development of the Intreo services for clients from a number of areas the south of Dublin, the Department, decided to close its offices in Tara Street and Thomas Street and relocate the work and associated staff to new premises based in Cork Street.
The officer in question notified their manager and HR Division that they felt they would not be in a position to relocate to the new premises due to mobility issues. The officer identified a number of alternative offices to which they wished to be assigned and their name was added to the transfer lists of all the locations specified.
HR Division also referred the officer’s case to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) asking for opinion on the person’s fitness for duty and the appropriate action concerning the officer’s request to be accommodated in a central location.
The CMO’s advice was that the officer was fit for duty but that the question of relocation to a central location was something that should be considered separately and as such was a matter for management.
In the circumstances and taking the advice into consideration the officer was advised that they could only be considered for an alternative assignment when their place on a transfer list has been reached.
It is open to the officer to submit any new medical evidence regarding their circumstances that can be referred to the CMO for further consideration.
215. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will confirm that her Department is currently reviewing the contractual arrangements between community employment supervisors and their direct employers; the reason for this review; the time frame for this review; and if she will provide a report on the findings of the review to date. [8204/15]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that the Department of Social Protection is not currently undertaking a review of the contractual arrangements between community employment (CE) supervisors and their employers CE Sponsoring Organisations.
