Written Answers Nos. 167-183
167. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the extent to which the time taken to process applications for various social protection payments has improved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1532/16]
View answerA breakdown of the average time, where available, to award claims at the end of December in each of the years 2006 to 2014 and at the end of November 2015 is detailed in the tabular statement below.
It should be noted that processing times vary by scheme reflecting the differing requirements to satisfy conditions such as income/means limits and medical eligibility. The processing times provided in the table for Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and Invalidity Pension from 2006 to 2013 incorporate the impact on overall processing times of the appeals process.
Average Weeks to Award Received Claims 2006 to November 2015
|
Scheme |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
State Pension (Non-Contributory)(2) |
9 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
12 |
16 |
13 |
N/a |
|
State Pension (Contributory) |
N/a |
N/a |
16 |
13 |
7 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
|
State Pension (Transition) |
N/a |
N/a |
6 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
8 |
N/a |
|
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension |
4 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Bereavement Grant - Sligo(1) |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
N/a |
|
Bereavement Grant - Longford(1) |
5 |
N/a |
2 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
N/a |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance |
4 |
3 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
One-Parent Family Payment |
9 |
10 |
11 |
13 |
16 |
16 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
7 |
|
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension |
6 |
7 |
9 |
9 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
11 |
N/a |
|
Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Disability Allowance(2) |
14 |
16 |
15 |
15 |
14 |
17 |
19 |
28 |
12 |
13 |
|
Carer's Allowance(2) |
10 |
12 |
15 |
9 |
8 |
N/a |
N/a |
30 |
13 |
17 |
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
7 |
9 |
6 |
7 |
10 |
12 |
|
Illness Benefit |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Invalidity Pension(2) |
8 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
13 |
N/a |
35 |
51 |
10 |
7 |
|
Child Benefit - Domestic & Formerly Resident Abroad |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
Child Benefit - EU Regulation |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
51 |
38 |
28 |
26 |
28 |
|
Family Income Supplement - New Claims |
N/a |
N/a |
13 |
8 |
10 |
17 |
16 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
|
Family Income Supplement - Claim Renewals |
N/a |
N/a |
5 |
8 |
10 |
18 |
15 |
5 |
5 |
N/a |
|
Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
N/a |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Household Benefits |
N/a |
N/a |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Free Travel |
N/a |
N/a |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
(1 ) Bereavement Grant Scheme discontinued in January 2014
(2 ) Average times to award are published based on July/August to December in respect of these schemes
168. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of applicants in receipt of a carer's allowance payment; the extent to which this number has fluctuated over the past six years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1533/16]
View answerThe number of Carer's Allowance (CA) recipients is shown in the table below.
|
At end of Year |
Recipients |
% increase on previous year |
|
2015 |
63,003 |
6% |
|
2014 |
59,380 |
5% |
|
2013 |
57,136 |
9% |
|
2012 |
52,209 |
1% |
|
2011 |
51,666 |
2% |
|
2010 |
50,577 |
5% |
The number of persons in receipt of CA continues to increase and is reflected in the increased expenditure on the scheme; from €501 million in 2010 to an estimated €611 million in 2015.
169. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of payments under the jobseeker's allowance scheme and under the jobseeker's benefit scheme; the extent to which these numbers have fluctuated in the past six years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1534/16]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the tabular statement below.
|
Jobseeker’s Allowance |
Jobseeker’s Benefit |
Totals |
||||
|
- |
Recipients |
Year on Year Variance |
Recipients |
Year on Year Variance |
Recipients |
Year on Year Variance |
|
2010 |
261850 |
- |
123457 |
- |
385307 |
- |
|
2011 |
283929 |
8.4% |
96044 |
-22% |
379973 |
-1.4% |
|
2012 |
291640 |
2.7% |
78459 |
-18% |
370099 |
-2.6% |
|
2013 |
295077 |
1.2% |
55068 |
-30% |
350145 |
-5.4% |
|
2014 |
269951 |
-8.5% |
46335 |
-16% |
316286 |
-9.7% |
|
2015 |
246537 |
-8.7% |
37845 |
-18% |
284382 |
-10.1% |
|
Overall Variance 2015 V 2010 |
-5.8% |
-69.3% |
-26.2% |
170. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the extent to which the number of persons in receipt of a long-term unemployment payment have fluctuated in the past six years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1535/16]
View answerRecipients of a long-term unemployment payment are people in receipt of a social welfare jobseeker’s payment continuously for a period exceeding one year. The information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the tabular statement below.
Long-term recipients at the end of each year 2010 to 2015
|
Year |
Recipients |
Year on Year Variance |
|
2010 |
177,067 |
- |
|
2011 |
205,925 |
16.3% |
|
2012 |
214,428 |
4.1% |
|
2013 |
205,248 |
-4.3% |
|
2014 |
187,798 |
-8.5% |
|
2015 |
150,582 |
-19.8% |
|
Overall Variance 2015 V 2010 |
-15.0% |
173. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the back to work allowance or similar return to employment incentives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1538/16]
View answerThere are two schemes to assist people on certain social protection payments who wish to become self-employed; namely the Short Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA) and the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA). The (STEA) provides immediate access to those who qualify for jobseekers benefit wishing to set up a business. Payment under the scheme is at the same rate and for the same duration as their entitlement to jobseekers benefit. The BTWEA is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are on social welfare payments to develop a business while allowing them to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment over two years - 100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2. Business proposals must be recommended by a local development company or local enterprise office before an application is considered for payment of the allowance.
At the end of December 2015, there were 396 people availing of the STEA and 11,881 people availing of the BTWEA.
174. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) in County Kildare for a review of a decision to refuse a domiciliary care allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1541/16]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance was received from the person concerned on the 30th June 2015. This application was not allowed as the child was not considered to satisfy the qualifying conditions for the allowance. A letter issued on 13 October 2015 outlining the decision of the deciding officer to refuse the allowance.
A review of this decision was requested on 26th November 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. Once this opinion is received the application will be re-examined by a deciding officer and a revised decision will be made, if warranted. The person concerned will be notified of the outcome of this review as soon as it is completed. Such reviews can take up to 12 weeks to complete at present.
175. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the eligibility for the back to education allowance for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1548/16]
View answerThe person concerned is completing a Masters of Law course at NUI and applied for a Back to Education Allowance. This application was refused on the basis that this course of study is not eligible for Back to Education Allowance under the current guidelines. The person concerned was advised that an application could be made to participate on this course under the Part Time Education Option and he was requested to supply a letter from the college confirming that he is participating on the course on a part-time basis. This documentation is still outstanding and the jobseeker’s allowance claim for the person concerned is currently suspended pending contact from the person concerned.
176. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1556/16]
View answerI can confirm that the department received notification on 4 January 2016 from the social welfare appeals office (SWAO) that a disability allowance appeal for the person concerned was successful.
On 11 January 2016 the person concerned was requested to provide some additional information required in order to finalise their case. On receipt of this information the appeals officer’s decision will be implemented and the person concerned will be notified of the details.
177. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare will qualify for the water conservation grant, with particular reference to the fact that the person is in receipt of a disability payment, and the amount to which the person is in arrears equals the amount of the grant amount available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1563/16]
View answerThe eligibility criteria for the Water Conservation Grant are set out in the Water Services Act 2014 (Water Conservation Grant) Regulations 2015. Under regulation 5(1) a person who registers with Irish Water, as required under section 5(2)(a) of the Water Services Act 2014, on or before 30 June 2015 shall be eligible to receive the grant in 2015 if they were normally resident at the principal private residence on that date.
To date Irish Water has transferred details of over 1.3 million registered households to this Department including the details of the person concerned. A letter issued to the person concerned at the address given inviting them to apply for the grant before the original deadline of 8th October 2015 and advising them that they could make this application either online or with the assistance of the Water Grant Support Team by telephone. Statutory Instrument 434 of 2015 provided for the extension of the deadline for the submission of a completed application to 22nd October 2015. However, there is no record of the person having applied for the grant prior to the final closing date.
178. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the rationale for the restrictions applying to self-employed persons qualifying for family income supplement. [1566/16]
View answerThe family income supplement (FIS) is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees with children on low earnings. FIS is designed to prevent child and family poverty and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment as compared to social welfare payments. There are currently some 55,000 families with some 120,000 children in receipt of FIS. Expenditure on FIS is estimated to be of the order of €349.2 million in 2015.
To qualify for payment of FIS, a person must be engaged in insurable employment which is expected to last for at least three months and be working for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week. Therefore, self-employed people are not eligible for FIS.
The rationale for not extending eligibility for FIS to include self-employed persons includes:
- the practical difficulties in defining and controlling an alternative to the hours worked condition;
- the difficulty in establishing satisfactorily a self-employed person’s hours of employment and certifying this on an ongoing basis;
- existing arrangements to provide income support to self-employed people on low incomes, such as jobseeker’s allowance and farm assist for low-income farmers;
- the cost of extending the scheme to the self-employed would be considerable.
Any extension of FIS to other categories of persons such as self-employed persons would have to be considered in a budgetary context. There are no plans for such an extension in present circumstances.
However, I would bring the Deputy’s attention to the Back to Work Family Dividend, which helps families to move from social welfare into employment, including self-employment, by retaining their qualified child increase for up to two years. As of December 2015 there were 10,554 families in receipt of the dividend, of whom 94 were in self-employment.
180. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive a decision on an application under the carer's allowance scheme; the reason for the delay in making a decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1568/16]
View answerThe application for carer’s allowance in respect of the person concerned was awarded on 20 October 2015 and the first payment issued to the person’s bank nominated bank account on 29 October 2015.
Arrears of allowance due were also issued to the bank on 29 October 2015. The person concerned was notified of this on 22 October 2015.
