Written Answers Nos. 267-288
269. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16792/16]
View answerI confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 24 February 2016. Additional information in relation to the person’s application, which was omitted by the applicant, has been requested by a deciding officer. Once the information is received the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
270. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16793/16]
View answerThe application for carer’s allowance in respect of the person concerned was awarded on 13 June 2016 and the first payment is due to issue to the person’s nominated post office on 23 June 2016.
Arrears of allowance due from 24 March 2016 have issued to the post office for payment on 23 June 2016. The person concerned was notified of these details on 13 June 2016.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
271. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the State supports available by way of training under FÁS or any other avenues that can be explored to provide necessary training for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16820/16]
View answerThe Training Support Grant (TSG) provided by the Department of Social Protection is designed to fund quick access to short-term training where this cannot be provided by a state provider within a reasonable time or where a intervention is identified that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities.
The scheme is activation focused and the jobseeker is required to provide reasonable evidence or grounds of need (for example in the form of a potential job offer) or a requirement to maintain or achieve accreditation, for example, safe pass, driving licences certain certification such as required for the catering sector (HACCP) or the security industry permit.
The maximum fund available to jobseekers under the scheme is €500 p.a. Access to the scheme is via the Department’s case officers.
The training sought by the jobseeker, such as driving lessons must form part of the agreed personal progression or action plan for the individual to enter/re-enter the labour market.
In this case the person concerned should contact their case officer to discuss their options.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
272. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection to expedite an application by a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16656/16]
View answerThe application for carer’s allowance in respect of the person concerned was awarded on 16 June 2016 and the first payment is due to issue to the person’s nominated post office on 23 June 2016.
Arrears of allowance due from 7 January 2016 have issued to the post office for payment on 23 June 2016.
The person concerned was notified of these details on 16 June 2016.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
273. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will permit all persons on community employment schemes who are over 60 years of age, where desired, to continue on the scheme until they reach retirement age given the difficulties they will meet in endeavouring to secure alternative employment. [16657/16]
View answerCommunity Employment (CE) is a labour market activation programme which helps long-term unemployed people (those 12-months or more in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment) and other disadvantaged groups to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. It is designed to be a temporary fixed-term activation intervention. The programme assists participants to enhance and develop both their technical and personal skills which can then be used in the workplace.
The CE programme is open to participants aged up to 65 years of age who meet the current eligibility criteria. A pilot initiative was introduced in December 2015 to enable those aged 62 and over to extend their participation beyond the standard maximum participation limits (currently set at 6 years cumulative lifetime participation) providing the eligibility conditions are met. Participants aged 62 and over, are allowed to participate on a continuous basis up to the state pension age, subject to satisfactory performance on the scheme and to annual approval by the Department. The places allocated for these participants within each individual CE scheme are limited to 7% of each schemes overall budgeted places.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
274. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 9 of 30 September 2015, if he will take steps to address the anomaly in how PRSI contributions are calculated for pension purposes in order to correct the anomaly that in some cases women who were subject to the marriage bar and who worked thereafter, are not entitled to a full contributory pension and are worse off than if they had not worked at all prior to the lifting of the marriage bar. [16677/16]
View answerThe ‘marriage bar’ describes a rule that existed in most of the public service and some private sector employments, where women were required to leave their employment upon marriage. This practice was abolished in 1973 when Ireland joined the EEC. As employees in the public service generally paid a reduced rate of PRSI, which provided no cover for the State pension (contributory), the marriage bar would not generally have impacted on State pension entitlement, as they would not have qualified for that payment had they remained in public sector employment.
Instead, by impacting upon their continuing public service employment, the marriage bar’s pension implications, where they exist, more generally relate to a person’s eventual entitlement to a Public Service pension. Any questions regarding this issue are a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
To qualify for a state pension (contributory) a person must have at least 520 paid contributions and satisfy a yearly average condition (a yearly average of 48 contributions paid or credited is required for a full rate State pension (contributory), and reduced rates of payment may be payable for pensioners with lower averages). Once over 16 years of age, the date a person enters into insurable employment is the date used for averaging purposes.
For those who have insufficient contributions to qualify for a full State pension (contributory), there are supports available in the overall State pension system which assists qualification for a contributory payment, based on factors such as the contributions made by their spouse, and/or other factors likely to impact upon their needs. These include –
- The Homemaker’s scheme, which was introduced to make qualification for State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties.
- Increases for Qualified Adults.
- Credits for periods of unemployment and illness .
- For those who do not qualify for a full rate contributory pension, they may qualify for a means-tested non-contributory pension of up to 95% of the full contributory pension.
The most recently published Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund confirms that the Fund provides better value to female rather than male contributors. It further confirms that those with lower earnings and those with shorter contribution histories, mostly women, have and will continue to obtain the best value for money from the Fund due to the distributive nature of the Fund.
It is expected that a total contributions approach to pension qualification will replace the yearly average contributions test for State pension (contributory) for new pensioners from 2020. The aim of this approach is to make the rate of contributory pension more closely match contributions made by a person, while dealing with anomalies inherent in the yearly average approach. This is a very significant reform with considerable legal, administrative, and technical elements in its implementation. When proposals are agreed, legislation will be brought forward to underpin the necessary changes. It is important that the changes be announced well in advance of introduction, to enable those affected to include the new factors into their retirement planning.
275. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount of money being spent by community employment schemes on mandatory health and safety training, which in many instances can absorb the entire training allowance; and his plans to enable this training to be funded separately, as it leaves very little else for other training which would assist in the employability of community employment participants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16682/16]
View answerThe annual CE training budget for 2016 is €6m. The Sponsor as the employer must comply with the relevant health and safety legislation. Over 8,000 components of learning in mandatory CE training (including health and safety training) were completed in 2015. A breakdown of expenditure for health and safety training is not feasible due to the variation in fees and type of award and the fact that a proportion of these awards incur no costs.
A training grant is allocated to community employment (CE) schemes in respect of all approved places on a “per-place per annum” basis. Training is in accordance with a tailored individual learning plan (ILP) compiled by the CE supervisor with the participant and designed to promote progression opportunities given the participant’s training requirements and employment goals. Flexibility can be applied in approval of training rates, particularly when the training is leading to a major award e.g. in childcare. All training is approved at Divisional level. Any proposed training that exceeds the budget allocated is assessed based on the value of the training provided to furthering the employment prospects of the individual.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
276. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Social Protection if the report and review on the impact of the reduced jobseeker payment rates for jobseekers 18 to 25 years of age, as committed to in the Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy has commenced; and if not, when it will be undertaken. [16698/16]
View answerReduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009. Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates to recipients under 26 years of age. This is a targeted measure aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency. To guard against the development of welfare dependency I believe that it is necessary to provide young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. If a young 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 Youth Guarantee sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that all young people receive an offer of employment within four months of becoming unemployed. There is now monthly engagement with all young jobseekers. Youth unemployment rose rapidly in the recession to over 30% in 2012. According to the Quarterly National Household Survey for Quarter 1 2016, youth unemployment continues to fall in line with the overall recovery and now stands at 16.9%.
The review of jobseeker’s allowance rates for young persons under 26 years of age will examine the effectiveness of the reduced rates in encouraging young jobseekers to avail of education, training, employment programmes and opportunities. Some preliminary analysis has commenced and I hope that this review will be completed later this year, subject to the necessary data being available and the required level of analysis involved being completed.
I am committed to ensuring my Department identifies effective measures to incentivise and support young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs. The best way to do this is through engagement processes and by incentivising them to avail of educational and training opportunities, thereby enhancing their employment prospects.
277. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the domiciliary care scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16702/16]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received in respect of the person concerned on the 24th March 2016. 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 applicant. Applications are processed in date of receipt order. It can currently take 12 weeks to process an application for DCA.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
278. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on the case of a person (details supplied) regarding payments from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16704/16]
View answerUpon review, my Department is satisfied to treat the application for disability allowance (DA) made by the person concerned in 2014 as equivalent to a claim for invalidity pension (IP) having been made at that time.
Consequently, IP has now been awarded to the person concerned from 10 July 2014, i.e. from the first Thursday following receipt of his original DA application. Payment for the period 10 July 2014 to the 22 April 2015 will issue to his nominated bank account on the 23 June 2016. The person in question was notified of this decision on the 20 June 2016.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
279. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Social Protection when he will issue a decision to a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16768/16]
View answerThe application for carer’s allowance in respect of the person concerned was awarded on 15 June 2016 and the first payment is due to issue to the person’s nominated bank account on 23 June 2016.
Arrears of allowance due from 3 December 2015 have also issued to the bank.
The person concerned was notified of these details on 15 June 2016.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
280. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Social Protection when he will issue a decision on an application by a person (details supplied) under the invalidity pension scheme. [16775/16]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to hold an oral hearing in this case on 29th June 2016. The person concerned has been notified of the arrangements for the 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.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
281. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) was refused payment under the disability allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16786/16]
View answerThe person in question appealed to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) a decision by a deciding officer to disallow his application for disability allowance (DA). The deciding officer disallowed his claim on the grounds that he failed to show his means did not exceed the statutory limit.
Following due consideration, the appeal of the person in question was disallowed by an appeals officer (AO) on 24 November 2015. He was notified of this decision in writing by the SWAO on the same date.
An AO’s decision is final and conclusive in absence of any fresh facts or evidence.
An initial examination of the PRSI contribution record of the person concerned indicates that he would not qualify for invalidity pension based on the PRSI contributions paid within this State. However, if he has worked and paid social insurance contributions within the EU he may qualify based upon his EU record. It is open to him to apply for IP so that his eligibility may be definitively ascertained.
Also, he may reapply for DA if he feels that he would satisfy the means test and is prepared to cooperate in that regard.
Under the legislation governing the means test for DA, when a deciding officer is assessing means for a property that is not the primary residence of the person, the net capital value of the property is assessed whether or not the property is rented out. Full information in relation to the means test and the DA scheme is available on my Department’s website www.welfare.ie.
I trust this clarifies matters for the deputy.
282. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the disability allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16788/16]
View answerMy Department informs me that there is no record of an application for disability allowance from the person in question. If the person in question wishes to make an application, he should fully complete and submit an application form (DA1) so that his eligibility may be determined.
If the person in question has submitted an application for DA in the last few days, there is no need to reapply and the Department will be in touch with him in due course.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
283. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16808/16]
View answerI confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 2 March 2016. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications. Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen.
Frequently, delays are outside the control of the Department and are caused by the customer failing to fully complete the claim form or failing to attach the supporting documentation that is requested on the application form.
This application will be processed as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. In the meantime, the person concerned is in receipt of a weekly social welfare support.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
284. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16817/16]
View answerI confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 23 May 2016. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications. Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen.
Frequently, delays are outside the control of the Department and are caused by the customer failing to fully complete the claim form or failing to attach the supporting documentation that is requested on the application form.
This application will be processed as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
In the meantime, if the means of the person concerned are insufficient to meet her needs she should apply for a means-tested supplementary welfare allowance from her local community welfare service.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
285. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on the future of the social welfare office in Swinford, County Mayo; if he can assure people in east County Mayo that there are no plans to close the office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16818/16]
View answerThe current manager of the Social Welfare Branch Office in Swinford, County Mayo has tendered his resignation with effect from 30th July 2016. The Department is examining the provision of services in the area and no decision has been made on the future of this office at this time. The Deputy will be kept informed of any future decision.
286. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection the additional funding he will make available under the training support grant when a person's retraining costs exceed €500; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16819/16]
View answerThe Training Support Grant (TSG) is designed to fund quick access to short-term training where this cannot be provided by a state provider within a reasonable time or where a intervention is identified that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities.
The scheme is activation focused and the jobseeker is required to provide reasonable evidence or grounds of need (for example in the form of a potential job offer) or a requirement to maintain or achieve accreditation, for example, safe pass, driving licences certain certification such as required for the catering sector (HACCP) or the security industry permit. Access to the scheme is via the Department’s case officers. A maximum amount of €500 may be made available to a jobseeker within a 12 month period, where appropriate. There are no proposals at present to increase this amount.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy
287. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Social Protection when he will issue a decision to a person (details supplied) under the carer's allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16831/16]
View answerI confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 3 December 2015. The application was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) to assess the level of care being provided, assess means and confirm that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied. Once the SWI has reported, a deciding officer will make a full decision and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
