Michael Ring
Question:105. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive arrears following an appeal under the carer's allowance scheme. [3953/16]
View answerCarer's Allowance Payments
Questions (105)
Written answers
An application for carer’s allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 27 May 2015.
Carer’s allowance was awarded to the person concerned on 18 November 2015 and the first payment issued to his nominated post office on 19 November 2015.
Arrears of allowance due from 28 May 2015 to 18 November 2015 have also issued.
Question No. 106 answered with Question No. 104.
Invalidity Pension Payments
Questions (107)
Noel Harrington
Question:107. Deputy Noel Harrington asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) in County Cork under the invalidity pension scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3963/16]
View answerWritten answers
The person concerned has been awarded invalidity pension with effect from the 05 November 2015. Payment will issue to his nominated post office on the 11 February 2016. Any arrears due from 05 November 2015 to 10 February 2016 (less any overlapping social welfare payment and/or outstanding overpayment) will issue in due course. The person in question was notified of this decision on the 29 January 2016.
Water Conservation Grant Eligibility
Questions (108)
Willie O'Dea
Question:108. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection why a person (details supplied) in County Dublin is not entitled to a water conservation grant since moving address given that the person had already registered with Irish Water; if she will award the grant to this person; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3964/16]
View answerWritten answers
The 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.
So far Irish Water has transferred details of over 1.3 million registered households to this Department. However, the details for the person concerned have not been received by the Department to date.
Invalidity Pension Applications
Questions (109)
Michael McNamara
Question:109. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Clare under the invalidity pension scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3973/16]
View answerWritten answers
Invalidity pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.
The department received a claim for IP for the person concerned on the 24 November 2015. The deciding officer (DO) is satisfied that the medical conditions for the scheme are satisfied.
The person in question has claimed an increase for a qualified adult (IQA), qualified child(ren) (IQC) and the fuel allowance. On the 20 January 2016, the DO requested further information from the person in question in order to assess eligibility for the IQA, IQC and fuel allowance. As soon as this information has been received the IP claim will be finalised as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
Jobseeker's Allowance Payments
Questions (110)
Pat Rabbitte
Question:110. Deputy Pat Rabbitte asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the deadline for submissions to the Labour Market Council for its review of payments for persons under 26 years of age under the jobseeker's allowance scheme; when the report will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3985/16]
View answerWritten answers
Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009, and extended in subsequent Budgets. A weekly jobseeker’s allowance rate of €100 applies to jobseekers aged 18-24 and a weekly rate of €144 applies to jobseekers who are 25 years of age.
These measures are targeted activation measures, aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency by incentivising them 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.
The Labour Market Council is a group comprising of independent industry leaders and labour market policy experts from organisations including the OECD, SIPTU and the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed. The Council has responsibility for driving the implementation of the Pathways to Work strategy and for advising on labour market policy. That is why I have asked the Council to examine the reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance for those under 26 years of age. I expect that this report will be available from the Council by the middle of this year.
The impact of the reduced rates for persons under 26 years of age progressing from the Live Register was considered at the last Labour Market Council meeting on the 18th of January and is due to be discussed further at the next Council meeting on the 22nd of February. These discussions will be informed in the first instance by information supplied by my Department as well as drawing on the broad and varied range of experience and knowledge among the Labour Market Council members. It will be a matter for the Council to consider if, and if so what, additional material (including submissions) should be sought to conclude its review.
Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications
Questions (111)
Bernard Durkan
Question:111. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in determining an application by a person (details supplied) in County Kildare under the domiciliary care allowance scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4009/16]
View answerWritten answers
An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 9th November 2015. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 12 weeks to process an application for DCA.
Questions Nos. 112 and 113 withdrawn.
Illness Benefit Payments
Questions (114)
Michelle Mulherin
Question:114. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Mayo who receives a payment under the illness benefit scheme receives an additional payment for a dependent child. [4022/16]
View answerWritten answers
The person concerned applied for and was awarded illness benefit from 4 September 2015. At that time the person concerned did not make a claim in respect of a qualified child dependent(s).
An application form to claim for a child dependent increase has issued to the person concerned on 29 January 2016. Their entitlement to a child dependant increase will be definitively determined on return of the completed application form.
Exceptional Needs Payment Data
Questions (115, 116)
Pearse Doherty
Question:115. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the sum of payments made under the exceptional needs payment scheme for each of the years from 2011 to 2015, in tabular form, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4029/16]
View answerPearse Doherty
Question:116. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of formal requests made and the number refused under the exceptional needs payment scheme to her Department's representative, formally known as the community welfare officer, by county, for each of the years from 2011 to 2015, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4030/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 and 116 together.
Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €30.3m for exceptional and urgent needs payments in 2016. There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.
Details of the expenditure under the ENP scheme for the years 2011 to 2015 is set out in the tabular statement below. The Department does not maintain details of expenditure by county.
Statistics are maintained relating to payments under the ENP scheme, however they are not maintained on the number of applications or the outcome of those applications. Details of the number of payments under the ENP scheme by county are provided for 2013 to 2015 in the tabular statement. This detailed information is not available for 2011 and 2012. In 2011 there were some 226,200 exceptional and urgent needs payments and in 2012 there were 197,500 payments.
Table 1: Exceptional and Urgent Needs Expenditure for 2011 to 2015.
|
Year |
Expenditure €millions |
|
2011 |
€62.2m |
|
2012 |
€52.7m |
|
2013 |
€35.7m |
|
2014 |
€30.1m |
|
2015 |
€31.0m* |
*2015 Provisional Outturn figure
Table 2: Number of Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments by County for 2013, 2014 and 2015.
|
County |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
Carlow |
1,889 |
1,249 |
1,130 |
|
Cavan |
1,056 |
786 |
620 |
|
Clare |
1,842 |
1,596 |
2,150 |
|
Cork |
10,315 |
9,693 |
8,943 |
|
Donegal |
1,786 |
1,549 |
1,580 |
|
Dublin |
60,091 |
46,651 |
37,776 |
|
Galway |
4,022 |
2,658 |
2,153 |
|
Kerry |
2,369 |
2,047 |
2,220 |
|
Kildare |
6,590 |
4,361 |
3,835 |
|
Kilkenny |
2,618 |
2,132 |
1,707 |
|
Laois |
2,648 |
3,396 |
3,344 |
|
Leitrim |
733 |
815 |
714 |
|
Limerick |
4,864 |
4,339 |
4,345 |
|
Longford |
1,021 |
1,099 |
1,048 |
|
Louth |
1,706 |
1,503 |
1,563 |
|
Mayo |
2,810 |
1,603 |
1,877 |
|
Meath |
4,055 |
3,125 |
2,800 |
|
Monaghan |
593 |
495 |
728 |
|
Offaly |
1,221 |
1,269 |
1,201 |
|
Roscommon |
1,504 |
843 |
833 |
|
Sligo |
1,797 |
1,494 |
1,751 |
|
Tipperary |
7,108 |
5,760 |
5,289 |
|
Waterford |
2,412 |
2,584 |
2,269 |
|
Westmeath |
2,128 |
2,239 |
2,453 |
|
Wexford |
2192 |
1,309 |
859 |
|
Wicklow |
3,620 |
2,544 |
3,024 |
|
Total |
132,990 |
107,139 |
96,212 |
Family Income Supplement Data
Questions (117)
Noel Harrington
Question:117. Deputy Noel Harrington asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of lone parents claiming family income supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4033/16]
View answerWritten answers
The family income supplement (FIS) provides support for employees, with families, who have low earnings in relation to their family size.
The department does not maintain statistics in relation to the number of single-parent families in receipt of FIS. However, from the records available, the number (estimated) of families in receipt of FIS who are headed by a single-parent (as at the end of 2015) is given in the following table, along with the total number of families in receipt of FIS for comparison purposes:
Table --- FIS Numbers
|
Year Ending |
Recipients - Families |
Single parent recipients |
|
2015 |
55,913 |
27,830 |
Jobseeker's Allowance Applications
Questions (118)
Jack Wall
Question:118. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the status of a transfer payment for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare under the one-parent family payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4043/16]
View answerWritten answers
The person concerned applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance on 14 January 2016, having exhausted her entitlement to Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment on 13 January 2016. As she failed to provide all necessary information on her initial application, it was necessary to re- issue an additional form. This has now been received and a decision will issue in the coming week.
Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications
Questions (119)
Terence Flanagan
Question:119. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will address a matter (details supplied) under the domiciliary care allowance scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4057/16]
View answerWritten answers
An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 17th November 2015. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 12 weeks to process an application for DCA.