Written Answers Nos. 64-76
64. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will expedite an appeal by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry under the carer's allowance scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29474/15]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 22 June 2015, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral 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.
65. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will support a matter (details supplied) regarding payment rates; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29483/15]
View answerBlind pension is a social assistance payment which is paid to blind and visually impaired people. In 2015, over €14 million will be spent on these payments. The rate of the blind pension is the same as other social assistance payments, such as disability allowance, jobseeker’s allowance and one-parent family payment.
Invalidity pension is a weekly payment to people who cannot work because of a long-term illness or disability and are covered by social insurance (PRSI). To get invalidity pension, among other eligibility criteria, a recipient must have at least 260 (5 years) paid PRSI contributions since entering social insurance.
The appropriate rates of welfare supports in the year ahead will be considered by Government as part of its deliberations on the next Budget.
66. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will examine and expedite an application under the disability allowance scheme by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29486/15]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 22 June 2015, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral 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.
67. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will take measures to ensure that persons who were formerly self-employed may gain access to job activation measures on an equal basis to all other persons who are unemployed, regardless of entitlement to job seekers allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29487/15]
View answerThe key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly the employment services and schemes provided by the Department are focused, in the first instance, on this cohort of unemployed people. This group includes a significant number of formerly self-employed people. The Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare, in examining issues involved in extending social insurance coverage for self-employed people, found that almost 9 out of every 10 self-employed people who claimed the means tested jobseeker’s allowance during the three-year period from 2009 to 2011 received payment.
Many services are also available to the unemployed who are not in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment, regardless of their previous employment/self-employment status. For example employment services, such as advice on job-search activities and the use of online job search tools, are available to people if they register with the Department’s employment services offices, regardless of their social welfare status.
Further, unemployed persons not in receipt of payments, including the previously self-employed, may also be eligible to avail of up-skilling opportunities, for example through ETB (formerly FÁS) training for unemployed people, although they are not eligible to receive a training allowance while undertaking the course. Springboard and Skillnets courses for unemployed people, funded through the Department of Education and Skills, are also open to people who were previously self-employed, regardless of their social welfare status.
The Pathways to Work 2015 strategy includes a commitment to develop and evaluate actions to extend services to people not on the Live Register and improve the promotion/communication of existing activation options. This will be considered in the light of the developing labour market and budgetary context.
In short, the Government is committed to supporting as many people as possible to participate more fully in employment and to become more self-sufficient by providing supports that address barriers they may encounter in finding and sustaining employment.
68. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views that changes are needed to ensure that former self-employed persons gain access to a greater range of supports from her Department if they find themselves unemployed; the measures she has taken in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29488/15]
View answerSelf-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the class S rate of 4% which entitles them to access long-term benefits such as State pension (contributory) and widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension (contributory) as well as guardians payment (contributory), maternity benefit and adoptive benefit. Ordinary employees who have access to the full range of social insurance benefits pay class A PRSI at the rate of 4%. In addition, their employers make a PRSI contribution of 10.75% in respect of their employees, resulting in the payment of a combined 14.75% rate per employee under full-rate PRSI Class A. (For employees earning less than €356 per week, the rate of employer’s PRSI is 8.5%).
Self-employed workers who become unemployed or ill may access social welfare supports by establishing eligibility to assistance-based payments such as jobseeker’s. In the case of jobseeker’s allowance they can apply for the means-tested jobseeker’s allowance if their business ceases or if they are on low income as a result of a downturn in demand for their services. As in the case of a non-self-employed claimant for jobseeker’s allowance or disability allowance, the means of husband/wife, civil partner or co-habitant will be taken into account in deciding on entitlement to a payment.
Self-employed people in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance have access to the full range of activation measures available through the State. Given the scale of unemployment levels, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly the employment services and schemes provided by the Department are focused in the first instance on this cohort of unemployed people. However, many services are available to the formerly self-employed who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment.
Some employment services, such as assistance with job-search activities and the use of online job search tools, are available to people if they register with the Department’s employment services offices, regardless of their social welfare status. Unemployed persons, including the previously self-employed, not in receipt of payments may also be eligible to avail of up-skilling opportunities but are not eligible to receive a training allowance while undertaking the course. Springboard courses are open to people who were previously self-employed, regardless of their social welfare status.
In September 2013, I published the report of the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare on Extending Social Insurance Coverage for the self-employed. The Group was asked to examine and report on issues involved in extending social insurance coverage for self-employed people in order to establish whether or not such cover is technically feasible and financially sustainable, with the requirement that any proposals for change must be cost neutral.
The Group found that the current system of means tested jobseeker’s allowance payments adequately provides cover to self-employed people for the risks associated with unemployment. In this context, the Group noted that almost 9 out of every 10 self-employed people who claimed the means tested jobseeker’s allowance during the three-year period from 2009 to 2011 received payment. Consequently, the Group was not convinced that there was a need for the extension of social insurance for the self-employed to provide cover for jobseeker’s benefit.
The Group found that extending social insurance for the self-employed was warranted in cases related to long term sickness or injuries. To this end, the Group recommended that class S benefits should be extended to provide cover for people who are permanently incapable of work, because of a long-term illness or incapacity, through the invalidity pension and the partial capacity benefit schemes. The Group further recommended that the extension of social insurance in this regard should be on a compulsory basis and that the rate of contribution for class S should be increased by at least 1.5 percentage points.
This recommendation will require further consideration in conjunction with the findings of the most recent Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund which indicated that the self-employed achieve better value for money compared to the employed when the comparison includes both employer and employee contributions in respect of the employed person. The Actuarial Review found that the effective annual rate of contribution needed to provide the full rate State pension (contributory), currently available to self-employed contributors, is approximately 15%.
My colleagues in Government and I will continue to reflect on the findings of the Advisory Group on this issue, in the context that any changes will need to be funded through an appropriate level of contribution.
69. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views that persons who were previously self-employed but are now unemployed should be included in the live register figures; if she will take measures to facilitate this change; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29489/15]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the publication of Live Register Data. The definition of what is included in that data is a matter for the CSO.
The Live Register is not a measure of unemployment. The CSO's Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) data provides unemployment statistics and since last month the CSO has introduced a new series of monthly unemployment estimates, which are available on the CSO’s website.
70. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Finance his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding a query on flooding and insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29429/15]
View answerThe issue of provision of new flood cover or the renewal of existing flood cover is a commercial matter for insurance companies, which is based on a proper assessment of the risks they are accepting. I, as Minister for Finance, am not in a position to direct insurance companies to provide flood cover to specific individuals. I understand that, in this case, one insurance company is refusing to provide insurance to the householder.
The current Government approach to address the availability of flood insurance is to address the underlying problem through appropriate remedial works. This involves: (a) prioritising spending on flood relief measures by the Office of Public Works and relevant local authorities to address those areas of greatest need including areas where the insurance industry is finding it most difficult to provide cover - so that flood relief programmes can have maximum impact, where economically feasible; (b) improving channels of communication between OPW and the insurance industry with the objective of ensuring that appropriate and relevant information on completed OPW flood defence schemes is provided to insurers to facilitate, to the greatest extent possible, the availability to the public of insurance against the risk of flooding.
This co-ordinated whole-of-Government approach is led by OPW, under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with further involvement from the relevant local authorities and other bodies in order to maximise the level of resources available to address flood relief works. Because of cost and scale of these types of flood defence works, it is an approach which will see benefits over the medium and long term.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Insurance Ireland and the OPW on the sharing of information in relation to completed flood defence works came into effect in on 1st June 2014 and the first full renewal cycle following the MoU has not yet been completed. In January 2015, Insurance Ireland provided a report to OPW on progress so far. While this report showed some improvements, it is expected that a fuller and more detailed report on progress under the MoU will now be made available to OPW. I will assess the progress reported and consider whether the current approach is delivering the expected results and whether other approaches need to be considered.
My officials have consulted with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government which advised that when purchasing a property, responsibiltity lies with the prospective buyer to conduct all necessary surveys.
In cases where individuals are experiencing difficulty in obtaining flood insurance and believe that they are being treated unfairly it is open to them to contact Insurance Ireland which operates a free Insurance Information Service for those who have queries, complaints or difficulties in relation to insurance. Their service can be contacted at (01) 676 1914 or by email at info@insuranceireland.eu.
71. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the number of customers at Permanent TSB who were wrongly moved from, or prevented from being on, a tracker mortgage, and who have had their case dealt with by the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29266/15]
View answer72. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the number of cases the Financial Services Ombudsman decision that Permanent TSB has acted wrongly in removing persons from tracker mortgages affects; the number of these cases that have been, decided; decided in favour of the customer; and decided against the customer; and the number of cases still pending. [29267/15]
View answer73. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the deadline for Permanent TSB to restore and-or compensate those who it was found to have moved off tracker mortgages wrongly, or prevented from accessing tracker mortgages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29268/15]
View answer74. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the legal costs incurred by Permanent TSB in appealing the finding of the Financial Services Ombudsman that it acted wrongly in removing persons from tracker mortgages. [29269/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 71 to 74, inclusive, together.
I have been informed by permanent tsb ("PTSB") that it is currently subject to an Enforcement Investigation by the Central Bank in relation to the circumstances in which the bank refused to allow certain customers who had switched from a tracker rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage for an agreed term to revert to a tracker rate mortgage at the end of that term. The bank based its refusal on the fact that these customers had not completed the agreed term of the fixed rate because they had chosen to break that term early in order to avail of lower variable rates available at the time.
PTSB has informed me that this Enforcement Investigation is ongoing and the bank is working with the Central Bank to identify relevant customers, to calculate the loss suffered by these customers, to agree an appropriate redress for those customers and to move these customers to the appropriate tracker rate. While this investigation is ongoing it is not possible to state how many customers may be included in the exercise or what the total or average level of redress may be.
The bank has made clear to my officials that it will do everything in it's power to expedite this matter and ensure that all affected customers are identified and receive appropriate redress.
I understand that as part of its Enforcement Investigation the Central Bank has the power to impose a regulatory sanction on the bank for its conduct in this matter but that is ultimately a matter for the Central Bank and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on that.
The bank has also been in contact with the Financial Services Ombudsman ("FSO") on this issue. The bank has withdrawn an appeal which it had lodged in respect of a High Court decision in a case between the FSO and the bank. The High Court found that the bank had acted in breach of the Consumer Protection Code on this matter by not specifically warning customers who broke the term of their fixed rate that they would lose the right to revert to a tracker rate at the end of the fixed rate term. The bank has also indicated to the FSO that as part of its wider review, it wishes to review a number of similar cases which the FSO has received and which the FSO has not yet offered an opinion on pending the outcome of the Supreme Court Appeal.
75. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Finance his views on additional bank charges applied to bills by Payzone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29326/15]
View answerI understand that the Deputy is seeking information on charges applied by Payzone. The Central Bank has confirmed that Payzone is not authorised by it and I understand that the bill pay service provided by Payzone is not a regulated activity under financial services legislation. As such, the matter does not come under my aegis. I understand that Payzone sets its own service administration fees.
I would advise customers who do not wish to pay such charges to shop around for cheaper, or even free, alternatives which may be available to them.
76. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance the amount of tax recovered by the Revenue Commissioners in the years 2012 to 2014 and in 2015 to date, through a crackdown on tax avoidance schemes and tax evasion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29359/15]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have a broad range of programmes aimed at tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion in all its forms.
Tax Avoidance
Aggressive tax planning and unintended use of legislation can lead to outcomes which present real risks to the tax base and the perceived fairness of the tax system. I am satisfied that Revenue continues to identify such arrangements and challenges them, or recommends strengthening legislation where appropriate.
The analysis which the Deputy requested is as follows:
In 2015 to date, 12 tax avoidance cases yielded €3.2 million (including interest and penalties). In addition, 137 cases applied under the Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure provisions of section 811A (2A) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. The yield in respect of the 137 cases is €43.7 million (including tax and interest). This is a provisional figure subject to the Revenue Commissioner s verification that the requirements of the Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure have been met.
In 2014, 24 cases were settled for a yield of 13 million (including interest and penalties) and the future restriction of losses of €1.6 million. A further 459 cases were examined to see if anti-avoidance legislation could be applied but were ultimately found not to be capable of challenge using anti-avoidance legislation.
In 2013, 14 avoidance cases, 13 of which were under Section 811 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, settled with a yield of €2.6 million (including interest and penalties) and a restriction of losses of €1.1 million.
In 2012, 36 avoidance cases involving financial transactions giving rise to capital losses with a tax at risk of €138 million were actively investigated under Revenue s general anti avoidance legislation. As a result of these enquiries 24 Notices of Opinion under anti avoidance legislation were issued. No avoidance cases were settled in 2012.
Tax Evasion
I am also advised by the Revenue Commissioners that non-compliance takes many forms including failure to register for taxes and duties, failure to make a tax return, under- declaration of income and overstatement of expenses and deductions. Revenue carries out a robust programme of compliance interventions that aims to minimise the burden on the compliant taxpayer and tackle in a thorough and effective way the non-compliant taxpayer. This approach involves taking account of all the risks that apply to a taxpayer across all taxes and duties. Revenue s priority is to recover any unpaid tax or duty along with interest and penalties as efficiently as possible. Revenue has a range of tools and techniques at its disposal to tackle non-compliance in all its guises, ranging from light touch early interventions to criminal prosecutions for serious tax and duties fraud.
Amounts recovered (tax, interest and penalties) as a result of Revenue Audit and Compliance Interventions (including interventions tackling avoidance) are outlined as follows:
|
Yield |
2015 Jan-June |
2014 |
2013 |
2012 |
|
Audit |
€198.5m |
€338.8m |
€311.9m |
€359.0m |
|
Risk Management Interventions |
€158.3m |
€240.5m |
€186.4m |
€88.0m |
|
Assurance Checks |
€3.7m |
€9.5m |
€19.5m |
€22.0m |
|
PAYE Compliance Interventions |
€8.2m |
€21.6m |
€30.5m |
€23.0m |
|
Total |
€368.7m |
€610.4m |
€548.3m |
€492.0m |
The Deputy will be aware that the Annual Reports published by the Revenue Commissioners provide comprehensive details of the various compliance programmes utilised by Revenue to tackle evasion and avoidance. These are available on Revenue s website at http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/publications/annual-reports.html.
