Written Answers Nos. 175-190
175. Deputy Catherine Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of children benefitting from the one-parent family payment scheme as of 30 June 2015; the associated cost to her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28301/15]
View answerAs of 30th June 2015, there were 105,944 children benefitting from the one-parent family payment with a total of 60,966 recipients.
The associated cost of the one-parent family payment scheme to my Department in 2015 is estimated to be €607 million.
The purpose of the one-parent family payment (OFP) age reforms that were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency. The reforms aim to improve lone parents’ access to the Department’s range of education, training, and employment support programmes, in order to assist them in securing employment and financial independence.
The final phase of the OFP age change reforms took place on 2 July, 2015 when approximately 29,400 OFP recipients were successfully transitioned to alternative income support payments – including jobseeker’s allowance, the jobseeker’s transitional payment and family income supplement (FIS), where they may also qualify for the new back to work family dividend.
176. Deputy Catherine Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of one-parent families with one, two, three, four or more than four children that are in receipt of a one-parent family payment as of 30 June 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28302/15]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is detailed in a tabular statement.
Recipients of One Parent Family Payment by Number of Children at end of June 2015.
|
- |
One Parent Family Payment |
|
1 Qualified Child |
31,074 |
|
2 Qualified Children |
19,106 |
|
3 Qualified Children |
7,412 |
|
4 Qualified Children |
2,389 |
|
5 or more Qualified Children |
905 |
177. Deputy Noel Harrington asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to include the new Eircode postcode in all schemes and administrative roles operated by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28321/15]
View answerThe Department will be undertaking a phased introduction of postcodes across its systems and processes, including its forms and communications. An internal project plan for the achievement of same has been developed.
The plan includes updating the main production platform to introduce capacity for postcodes, uploading the initial dataset, the implementation of a postcode finder, the development of batch jobs and refactoring communications to include postcode address details.
To this end, following a procurement exercise, a third party has been contracted to assist the Department undertake the necessary internal system modifications in line with overall project timelines. Current planning and release schedule provides that the project will be completed by the end of Q4 2015.
178. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an application by a person (details supplied) in County Mayo under the disability allowance scheme; if it will be expedited. [28331/15]
View answerThe person in question has been awarded a disability allowance payment with effect from 27 May 2015. First payment will be on 5 August 2015 and any arrears due will follow shortly.
179. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 201 to 203, inclusive, of 23 June 2015, the number of cases investigated and concluded under Operation DIRT - deposit interest retention tax - in each year since its inception; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28335/15]
View answerTo date, since October 2012, full recoveries have been made on 503 cases investigated under Operation DIRT (Deposit Interest Retention Tax), project and are therefore deemed concluded. A further 194 cases are in varying degrees of the recovery process and as such are still on-going and yet to be concluded.
Data sharing by the Department is viewed as an efficient and effective mechanism to target control related activity. It is an important preventative and detection control measure. The Department continues to examine its control practices and to introduce new measures to improve controls, wherever possible. The aim is to reduce or eliminate overpayments arising from customers receiving payments when they are no longer eligible in order to ensure that scarce resources are available to those who need them most.
180. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of restoring jobseeker's allowance rates for those under 26 years of age to the rate received by those over 26 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28349/15]
View answerReduced 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 they will receive a higher weekly payment of €160.
Based on data from June, 2015 the additional full year cost for my Department of providing a weekly rate of €188 for all Jobseeker’s Allowance recipients aged 25 and under is some €146.4 million. However, it should be noted that such an increase will also have cost implications for the Department of Education and Skills as it will impact on the allowances paid by the Education and Training Boards. Any change to provision in this area would be a matter for Government to consider in a Budgetary context.
181. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the State pension non-contributory and the State pension contributory for each of the past ten years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28374/15]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is published annually by my Department in the “Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services” report. The reports for years 2005 to 2013 are available at www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Annual-Statistical-Information-Reports.aspx or through the Oireachtas library. The corresponding data for 2014 are currently being collated by my Department, and will be published in the 2014 report as soon as they are finalised.
I am informed however that at the end of December 2014 there were 95,570 and 346,420 persons in receipt of the State Pension (Non-Contributory) and the State Pension (Contributory) respectively.
182. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will grant the back to education allowance to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24, in view of the fact that the person has made a case regarding qualifying criteria and is anxious to pursue further education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28418/15]
View answerThe person concerned made an application on the 17/06/2015 for a back to education allowance (BTEA). This application was refused as the person concerned had not got the required 234 cumulative total days on his jobseekers allowance claim and a letter of refusal issued on 25/06/2015. It is open to the person concerned to seek a review of his application.
183. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an application for a domiciliary care allowance by a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28420/15]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance was received from the person concerned on the 11th February 2015. This application was not allowed as the child was not considered to satisfy the qualifying conditions for the allowance. A letter issued on the 28th May 2015 outlining the decision of the deciding officer to refuse the allowance.
An appeal of this decision was registered on 18th June 2015 and additional information on this child’s condition/care needs has been supplied. The application together with the new information supplied has been forwarded to a Medical Assessor for their professional opinion. Upon receipt of the Medical Assessor’s opinion, the case will be further examined by a deciding officer, who will revise the original decision if warranted or alternatively, forward the case for consideration by the Appeals Office.
184. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding social welfare payment options for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28429/15]
View answerSimilar to family income supplement (FIS), the back to work family dividend (BTWFD) scheme is an in-work payment. It is a financial support to former jobseeker and one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme recipients with children who have ended their claim and who are in or take up employment or self-employment. The BTWFD can however be paid in addition to a FIS payment.
Payment by electronic fund transfer (EFT) into a bank account was chosen as the preferred payment method for the BTWFD scheme. No changes have been made to the payment methods of those who continue to receive jobseekers or one-parent family payment.
The person identified by the Deputy in his question has always had her FIS claim paid into a bank account and continues to do so.
185. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 204 of 9 December 2014 regarding a review being under way in her Department on the enforcement of Labour Relations Commission awards for unpaid wages in the event that a former employee's company had ceased trading but had not been liquidated, the way such workers can have their successful claims enforced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28446/15]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act, 1984 an employer company shall be regarded as being 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.
186. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the case of a person (details supplied); the reason this person's claim for a jobseeker's allowance has ceased since March 2015; if her Department will review this decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28447/15]
View answerThe person concerned advised this Department in March 2015 of a change in circumstances relating to his spouse's income from employment. A new means assessment on his jobseekers allowance was undertaken based on the new means information provided by the person concerned. This assessment established that the he no longer had an entitlement to a jobseekers allowance. The person concerned was notified in writing at the time and was advised of his right of appeal. At present the spouse of person concerned has recently become unemployed, and has applied for jobseekers allowance, and in the interim is in receipt of a supplementary welfare allowance payment. The person concerned is currently included as an adult dependant on his spouse’s claims.
187. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will expedite a social welfare appeal lodged by a person (details supplied) in mid-June 2015 for a carer's allowance as a matter of urgency, given the circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28448/15]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 25th June 2015. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral appeal hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
188. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a final response will issue further to correspondence (details supplied) regarding eligibility criteria under the free travel pass scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28450/15]
View answerI understand that a final reply will issue in response to your representations this week.
The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66 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. Accordingly, there are currently approx. 828,000 customers with direct eligibility with an annual allocation of €77 million.
If the scheme was to be extended to people under 66 who are not eligible for a qualifying payment, an assessment procedure would be required for all such applications, changing the nature of the scheme. Successive Governments have instead used existing underlying entitlements to confer eligibility for this scheme, and there are no plans to change this.
Any decision to extend the free travel scheme would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
190. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive a decision on an appeal under the family income supplement scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28459/15]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 9th July 2015. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral appeal hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
