Wednesday, 30 Sep 2015

Written Questions Nos. 21-27

Farm Assist Scheme

Questions (21)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

21. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will consider reversing the changes made to the farm assist scheme, with respect to income disregards, given that these changes have had a serious negative affect on the income levels of already struggling farming families; the reasons her Department is refusing to carry out an analysis to assess the impact that these changes have had on families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33148/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure of almost €89 million on the farm assist scheme in 2015.

All recipients of farm assist benefitted from the Christmas Bonus in December, 2014. All recipients with children are benefitting from the increase in child benefit announced in Budget 2015.

Changes introduced in Budgets 2012 and 2013 have brought farm assist into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s treatment of self-employed persons. Farm families with the lowest income will be least affected by these changes as the headline rates of farm assist have been maintained.

The assessment of means for the purpose of qualifying for farm assist is designed to reflect the actual net income from farming. Income and expenditure figures for the preceding year are generally used as an indicator of the expected position in the following year. Account is taken of any exceptional circumstances so as to ensure that the assessment accurately reflects the current situation. Any farmer experiencing lower levels of income can ask for a review of their means.

As part of the normal budget process, all potential budget measures, including any proposed changes to the farm assist scheme, are assessed in terms of the impact they would have. My officials keep the scheme under ongoing review, including having regular discussions with the IFA. There are no plans to change the current scheme criteria.

Employment Support Services

Questions (22)

Dara Calleary

Question:

22. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the employment supports currently in place for persons with disabilities. [33147/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The Government is anxious to facilitate increasing participation in employment for persons with a disability. In addition to basic income support, the Department provides a wide range of work related supports for people with disabilities which play an important role in supporting participation by people with disabilities in the labour force. These include the wage subsidy scheme, the EmployAbility (supported employment) programme and the employment support programme for people with disabilities.

The wage subsidy scheme (WSS) is an employment support to the private sector for the employment of people with disabilities. The purpose of this demand-led programme is to increase the numbers of people with disabilities participating in the open labour market. The WSS provides financial incentives to private sector employers to hire people with a disability for between 21 and 39 hours per week under a contract of employment. In 2014, some 1,550 employees were supported through this programme at a cost of €12.6 million.

The EmployAbility programme is a national employment service dedicated to improving employment outcomes for job seekers with a disability. EmployAbility participants are people with a disability who are able to work a minimum of 8 hours per week and who need the support of a job coach to obtain employment in the open labour market. In December 2014, some 2,936 people were availing of the service, and the cost of the service last year was €8.5 million.

The employment support programme for people with disabilities provides various labour market supports for people with disabilities, assisting them with finding paid employment or preparing them for employment through a training or employment programme. The employment support programme is a demand-led grant scheme, with an expenditure of €0.34 million in 2014.

Tax Code

Questions (23)

Denis Naughten

Question:

23. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a training and education credit for the pay related social insurance system, similar to the homemaker's credit, to encourage upskilling; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33023/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The primary purpose of PRSI credits is to secure social welfare benefits and pensions of employees by covering gaps in insurance where they are not in a position to pay PRSI. This includes periods of unemployment and illness, as well as periods spent participating in certain education or training courses. The class at which a contributor paid his or her last PRSI contribution determines entitlement to credited contributions. In order to qualify for credits, a person must first have entered insurable employment and must have paid at least one PRSI contribution as an employed contributor. Credits are not available to a person who has only class S contributions.

Student credits are awarded to individuals who re-enter insurable employment having completed a course of full-time education, where the course was commenced before the age of 23 years. Student credits provide access to short-term benefits such as illness benefit, jobseeker’s benefit and maternity benefit.

In addition, participants of the Back-to-Education Allowance, the Vocational Training Opportunities schemes and other approved courses may qualify for credits. Credits are also available to those attending training courses provided or approved by SOLAS, the National Tourism Development Authority, Teagasc or Bord Iascaigh Mhara. Credits are awarded for participants of these schemes and courses subject to the individual qualifying for credits at the commencement of the scheme or course of study.

Individuals undertaking training or education may also become voluntary contributors, subject to satisfying the qualifying criteria. By paying voluntary contributions an individual can protect their existing entitlement to long-term social insurance benefits.

Respite Care Grant Payments

Questions (24)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

24. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will ensure that care given by carers for a caree who has died or recovered is recognised by a pro-rata payment of the respite care grant to the former carer prior to the six-month deadline. [33141/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The Respite Care Grant (RCG) is an annual payment of €1,375 for carers who look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention. The payment is made regardless of the carer's means but is subject to certain conditions, one of which is that the period of full-time care and attention must last for at least six months (which must include the first Thursday in June when the payment is made automatically to recipients of carer’s allowance/benefit and domiciliary care allowance).

I consider this to be reasonable and in the case of bereavement the Department recognises the financial difficulties arising at this time for carers as payment of carer's benefit/ allowance continues for a period of 6 weeks after the date of death of the care recipient.

This year, RCG was paid to over 70,000 clients in at an estimated cost of over €124 million, and I should point out the grant, with no requirement to satisfy a means test, is not available for any other social welfare group nor is there an equivalent payment for carers in any other country in Europe.

In relation to income supports for carers generally, expenditure on such supports has increased from €773m in 2012 to an estimated €822m in 2015.

Employment Support Services

Questions (25)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

25. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when the new framework around the Pathways to Work 2016 to 2020 will be published; if there will be stakeholder consultation, and if she expects that there will be major changes to the current framework. [33145/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The current Pathways to Work Strategy covers the period to end 2015. It set out a significant process of reform and modernisation of Ireland’s of Public Employment Services and has contributed substantially to the improvement in activation processes in Ireland, as recently acknowledged by the OECD. I am pleased to say that targets set out in Pathways to Work in relation both to process reforms and in particular employment outcomes for unemployed jobseekers have been achieved, or are in line to be achieved, by the end of 2015.

An updated Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy is under development within the Department of Social Protection and it is intended to bring this strategy to Government for approval within the next four to five months. Towards this end the department has commenced a consultation process with stakeholders. A detailed survey issued to c 200 stakeholders in July and the department will host a consultation forum on 9 October next to provide feedback on the responses received and to provide stakeholders with a further opportunity to inform the development of the updated strategy.

While the new strategy is still being formulated I expect that it will reflect labour market changes in our economy. In particular whereas the existing strategy was formulated during a period of very high unemployment and focussed on supporting people who are unemployed the new strategy is likely, given the reduction in unemployment and ongoing growth in employment, to augment this focus by, in addition, seeking to support an increased level of labour market participation in order to ensure that economic growth can be sustained.

Back to Work Family Dividend Scheme

Questions (26)

Willie O'Dea

Question:

26. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of recipients of the one-parent family payment who have transitioned to the back to work family dividend since July 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33033/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

Approximately 6,500 customers have transitioned from the one-parent family payment to the back to work family dividend since the final phase of the one-parent family payment scheme reforms took place on 2 July, 2015.

One-Parent Family Payment Payments

Questions (27)

Paul Murphy

Question:

27. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her Department's plans to undertake an impact assessment on the cuts made to the one-parent family payment, especially in view of the extra expenses incurred by families upon the return to school. [33039/15]

Oral answers (1 contributions)

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The Department monitors on an ongoing basis all social welfare income support schemes including the one-parent family payment scheme.

One of the key aims of the one-parent family payment scheme reforms is to maximise the opportunities for lone parents to enter into and increase employment by providing them with enhanced access to the wide range of education, training, and employment supports that make up the Department’s Intreo services.

Lone parents continue to be more at risk of poverty than the rest of the population. However, research has shown that being at work reduces the at-risk-of-poverty rate for lone parents by three-quarters – compared to the at-risk-of-poverty rate for lone parents who do not work.

The Department has published a social impact assessment of the main social welfare and tax measures of Budget 2015 as well as of the water charges. The assessment found that the household incomes of employed lone parents will increase by almost 0.8 per cent, while those of unemployed lone parents will rise by some 0.6 per cent. This positive outcome for lone parents reflects the increase in the child benefit payment, the partial restoration of the Christmas bonus, and the reduction in the universal social charge.

It has not been possible for the Department to capture the full impact of the one-parent family payment scheme reforms by using the Switch model. It is hoped that this will happen as part of the on-going development of the aforementioned model.

It should be noted that the vast majority of lone parents who transitioned from the one-parent family payment onto the jobseeker’s transitional payment or the jobseeker’s allowance payment should have automatically received the back to school clothing and footwear allowance in July of this year.

As I have previously stated in the Dáil, I will be examining the various supports that are available to all families with children, including lone parent families, in Budget 2016. In particular, I will be looking at the scope for improvements in both the child benefit payment and other supports for families that are engaged in both full-time and part-time employment.