Written Answers Nos. 44 - 54
44. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the current position regarding an application for disability allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26714/15]
View answerThe application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 24 April 2015.
Further medical evidence was received in this case on 2 June 2015 and is currently being reviewed. The person in question can expect a decision on the review of his disability allowance application shortly.
45. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will urgently investigate and expedite an application for disability allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26717/15]
View answerIn order to determine the circumstances of the person concerned, his file was forwarded to his local Social Welfare Inspector. S/he will arrange to meet with the person in question as soon as possible.
A final decision on his entitlement to disability allowance will be given on receipt of the Social Welfare Inspectors report. The person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
46. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a final decision will be made on an application for payment under the insolvency payments scheme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26719/15]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act, 1984 an employer company shall be regarded as insolvent if the company is placed into receivership or if a winding-up order has been made or a resolution for the voluntary liquidation of the company has been passed. The former employer of the person concerned has not engaged in any of these processes and therefore the person is not covered by the provisions of the 1984 Act.
My Department is continuing to review the position to establish what, if anything, can be done to progress payments to individuals in situations where employers cease trading without engaging in a formal winding-up process and who owe monies to their employees. The Department is consulting with a range of interested parties including the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Revenue Commissioners to establish what, if anything can be done to progress payments to individuals in these situations. To date officials from the Department have had one formal meeting with the various parties mentioned above in connection with this issue and continue to engage with all relevant parties to try to progress the matter.
I am not in a position to indicate when this review will be completed.
47. Deputy Noel Coonan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when an application for carer's allowance will be finalised in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26720/15]
View answerI confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 29th April 2015.
The application is currently being processed and the person concerned will be notified shortly of the outcome.
48. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a reassessment of means will be determined in relation to an application for carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [26732/15]
View answerThe department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 28 October 2014. This application was refused on the grounds that her means exceeded the statutory limit.
She was notified on the 4 June 2015 of this decision, the reason for it and of her right of review and appeal. No further correspondence has been received from the person concerned to date.
49. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans for time limiting the invalidity pension and shortening the duration of illness benefit. [26786/15]
View answerThere is no time limit applying to invalidity pension and illness benefit is currently payable for a maximum of two years, and I have no plans to introduce changes along the lines outlined in the question.
50. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will review the new proposals for the one-parent family payment and rescind the regressive elements of the proposals before the introduction of the amended scheme on 2 July 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26801/15]
View answerExpenditure on the One Parent Family Payment (OFP) scheme is estimated to be €607 million in 2015 with almost 70,000 recipients.
However, despite committing extensive funding to lone parent payments since the 1970s, lone parents remain the most at-risk-of-poverty, and their children are at a high risk of poverty. For too long, significant numbers of lone parents have been typecast, and confined to social welfare dependency. The best route out of poverty and social exclusion is through paid employment. The purpose of the reform of the one parent family payment is to maximise the opportunities for lone parents to enter into and increase employment.
The reforms seek to address the long-term social welfare dependency and poverty experienced by many lone parents by providing them with improved access to the Department’s range of education, training, and employment supports, such as back to education allowance, back to work enterprise allowance and community employment. In addition, I was pleased to introduce the back to work family dividend in the last Budget. This provides a significant incentive for families with children to move into employment, as recently reported by the ESRI.
Access to these services and supports is imperative for lone parents, in order to ensure that their prospects of securing employment and financial independence are improved.
Any reversal of these reforms would delay this critical interaction between lone parents and the Department’s Intreo services and would potentially increase the barriers they face to entering employment in the future.
I therefore have no plans to reverse the forthcoming changes to the one parent family payment.
However, I look forward to examining the various supports available to all families, including single parent families, in the next Budget.
51. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when the new personal insolvency measures announced on 30 May 2015 will come into effect, in particular, the proposed removal of a bank's veto on insolvency arrangements by way of putting a new examinership style process in place to allow debtors to challenge a bank's rejection of a proposed arrangement to ensure debtors are not unfairly prejudiced and that the insolvency judges will have the power to approve personal insolvency arrangements that are rejected by the banks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26850/15]
View answerMatters to do with the Personal Insolvency Act and all related measures are the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality.
53. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the steps she will take to expedite an application for disability allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26852/15]
View answerI confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for disability allowance from the above named person on 18 June 2015. On completion of the necessary investigations on all aspects of the claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
The processing time for individual disability allowance claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity in terms of the three main qualifying criteria, the person’s circumstances and the information they provide in support of their claim.
54. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if an increase in rent support will be offered in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare whose rent has increased to €1,000 per month; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26856/15]
View answerThe Department has not been informed of any change in circumstance for this client. The client should advise the Department of any changes in their circumstances so that their entitlement can be re-assessed.
