Written Answers Nos. 40-49
40. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if it is acceptable that a person (details supplied), who depends on full-time support has lost a living alone allowance and a fuel allowance and that this person and a sibling should be financially penalised for saving the State a considerable amount by ensuring that the person is cared for at home. [1596/16]
View answerAccording to the Department’s records the person concerned is now living with his brother and is no longer entitled to a Living Alone Allowance.
If a person in receipt of a qualifying payment is living alone or only with another person who is in receipt of Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit and caring for the person getting the qualifying payment, (in this instance State pension non-contributory) then the Fuel Allowance may be payable. In this particular case, this customer’s brother is currently not in receipt of either payment.
Our records show that the customer’s brother applied for Carer’s Allowance in 2006 but the application was refused because his means then exceeded the eligibility threshold. If this person’s circumstances have changed a new application for Carer’s Allowance should be made. If Carer’s Allowance is awarded to the customer’s brother then an application for reinstatement of the Fuel Allowance can then be considered.
I understand that an application form for Carer’s Allowance was sent to the household last week.
41. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when payment under the carer's allowance scheme will issue to persons (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1597/16]
View answerI confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 12 November 2015. The application is currently being processed and once completed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
42. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to support a matter (details supplied) regarding PRSI; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1603/16]
View answerSection 20 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 provides for the collection of PRSI contributions from every person over the age of 16 years and under pensionable age who has reckonable income or reckonable emoluments.
The person referred to by the Deputy received a payment from an assurance company after he retired from his previous employment. This payment was reckonable under Section 20 as the person had not yet reached the age of 66.
PRSI of €920.29 was paid at class S. I am satisfied that the correct amount of PRSI has been paid.
43. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to support a matter (details supplied) regarding the domiciliary care allowance and the carer's allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1604/16]
View answerThe age limit for receipt of domiciliary care allowance (DCA) is 16 years. As the child concerned will reach the age of 16 years in April 2016, DCA is no longer payable after that date. A letter issued in December 2015, to the person concerned, advising that payment of the DCA allowance is due to end in April 2016, but that her child could apply for disability allowance in his own right.
Carers allowance (CA), stays in payment as long as the qualifying conditions continue to be met, unlike DCA it does not stop automatically when the care recipient reaches a specific age. However, the Department may decide to review continuing eligibility for CA at that point or at any future point. Accordingly, the person concerned does not need to re-apply for CA.
44. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the benefits that have been withdrawn under the treatment benefits package since 2010; the savings made as a result of each measure; the full-year cost in 2016 of restoring each of the benefits, based on the contracts agreed with dental and medical practitioners at the time they were withdrawn, and based on a 5%, 10%, and 15% increase on the rates agreed at that time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1624/16]
View answerThe dental and optical benefit schemes were restricted to a free annual dental exam and a free two yearly optical examination from January 2010. The cost (in €millions) for the last 6 years for the two schemes and for 2009, the last year the schemes operated unrestricted, are set out in the table below:
|
Year |
Dental |
Optical |
Total |
|
2009 |
62.3 |
17 |
79.3 |
|
2010 |
25 |
6.2 |
31.2 |
|
2011 |
9.1 |
3.3 |
12.4 |
|
2012 |
8.9 |
3.4 |
12.3 |
|
2013 |
9.9 |
3.4 |
13.3 |
|
2014 |
10.2 |
3.6 |
13.8 |
|
2015 |
10.3 |
4 |
14.3 |
(These figures represent payments for claims paid by the Department only, and do not include the annual reimbursements to the HSE in respect of dual-qualified customers.)
The cost of the dental and optical schemes in the period 2010-2015 was €97.3 million. Based on the 2009 application numbers and fees payable (and assuming no increase in those figures between 2010 and 2015) this represents an estimated saving of €378.5 million over this 6 year period.
The potential cost of restoring the scheme in 2016 to its 2009 format (assuming the same level of customer applications as in 2009), would be as set out in the following table, allowing for the potential % increase in fees as suggested by the Deputy (shown in €millions):
|
Scheme |
2009 |
+5% |
+10% |
+15% |
|
Dental |
62.3 |
65.4 |
68.5 |
71.6 |
|
Optical |
17 |
17.9 |
18.7 |
19.6 |
|
Total |
79.3 |
83.3 |
87.2 |
91.2 |
These figures represent the potential cost of the schemes (based on 2009 application levels), including examinations, which have continued to be provided to customers and for which the fee payable has not increased since 2009. While the increases suggested by the Deputy have been applied in the table of costings above, it should be noted that it is not proposed to increase fees at this time. For a more accurate estimate of the net cost of restoring the suspended treatments/entitlements only, the current cost of the dental and optical examinations (€14.3 million in 2015) should be subtracted from the relevant figure in the table.
47. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) will be reinstated to a position at a facility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1641/16]
View answerThe organisation referred to by the Deputy is provided with financial support under the community services programme (CSP). The CSP provides a contribution to the wage costs of employing staff to develop and deliver services not otherwise provided or where insufficient demand exists or there are gaps in services.
Additional resources were provided to the organisation in question to develop its services and operations. However, following a review of the service provided, it was found that little impact was realised from the provision of the additional financial supports. A continuing rationale for granting that level of resources could not, therefore, be maintained.
The level of grant support available for the operation of community facilities of this type has been determined to be €38,066 per annum, in line with similar operations nationally.
48. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to provide funding to projects under the community services programme to cover the increase in the minimum wage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1650/16]
View answerThe community services programme (CSP) is one of a number of programmes and schemes operated by the Department. It provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a social inclusion nature. Many of these companies are also funded from other sources and generate revenue from the public use of their facilities and services. The CSP provides a contribution to the wage costs of the companies on the basis that the services are not fully self-financing or the cost of provision would be prohibitive on users. The Department does not set the wage rate but requires the payment of appropriate wage rates, consistent with local norms.
At December 2015, 398 companies employing some 2,800 employees were directly supported by the CSP. The Department estimates that, at the end of 2015, some 60% of these employees were being paid above the level of the minimum wage, in keeping with the social inclusion and social benefit objectives of the programme. The Department is committed to working with the remaining companies to achieve the objective of paying a reasonable wage. The Deputy should note that the CSP accounts for less than a third of the resources generated by these companies.
Contracts of up to three years duration are provided for under the CSP. Arrangements whereby individual companies will be able to access additional financial resources to compensate for the welcome increase in the minimum wage are being put in place. Submissions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the annual funding commitment being adjusted accordingly, where it is found to be warranted. An advance of 25% of the contract value for 2016 has been, or is in the course of being, paid to companies currently in the programme. This ensures that immediate cash-flow requirements are supported.
Overall, I am satisfied that the level of resources available to the CSP in 2016 at just over €45m will be adequate to meet the ongoing funding needs of the programme.
