Written Answers Nos. 156-165
156. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Sligo will have a decision on an application for domiciliary care allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29111/16]
View answerThe person concerned was notified on the 4th October 2016 that her domiciliary care allowance has been awarded from 1st June 2016. The first payment of the allowance, along with arrears due, will issue on the 18th October 2016. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
157. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will be made on an application for carer’s allowance by a person (details supplied) in respect of their mother who has significant health difficulties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29133/16]
View answerAn application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 26 April 2016.
It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the person being cared for must have a disability whose effect is that they require full-time care and attention.
This is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continuous supervision in order to avoid danger to him or herself and likely to require that level of care for at least twelve months.
The evidence submitted in support of this application was examined and the deciding officer decided that this evidence did not indicate that the requirement for full-time care was satisfied.
The person concerned was notified on 2 August 2016 of this decision, the reason for it and of her right of review and appeal.
The person concerned has requested a review of this decision and submitted additional evidence in support of her application. The review is currently being processed and once completed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
159. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) is not in receipt of an appropriate social protection payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29135/16]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 17th August 2016, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral 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.
160. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application for disability allowance by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29140/16]
View answerThe application for disability allowance, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person in question was notified in writing of this decision on 31 March 2016.
They requested a review of this decision by a deciding officer (DO) and submitted additional evidence for consideration. The review has now concluded and the outcome is that the decision to refuse on medical grounds has been confirmed.
The person in question has being notified directly of this and has been advised of their right to appeal this decision to the independent social welfare appeals office.
161. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection when a disability allowance claim is likely to issue in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29148/16]
View answerI confirm that an application from the person concerned for disability allowance (DA) was received by the Department on 13 May 2016. The application has been referred to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) for a report on the person’s means and circumstances. Once the SWI has submitted his/her report to DA section, a decision will be made on the application and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
162. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will address the various support payments for children with special needs in the forthcoming budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29177/16]
View answerThe support payments provided for children with disabilities, including domiciliary care allowance and Carers Allowance are routinely reviewed in a budget context, within the constraints of competing priorities and available resources. Indeed, one such payment, the Carers Support Grant, was recently increased to €1700 per annum per child. My colleague, Simon Harris, Minister for Health is working to ensure that legislation to make medical cards automatic for very sick children on Domiciliary Care Allowance, comes before the Dáil this term.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
163. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will improve the widow's-widower's pension payment in the course of the forthcoming budget as widows and widowers may find themselves disadvantaged when compared with recipients of other payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29178/16]
View answerAs a result of Budget 2016 all Social welfare payments to recipients aged 66 and over were increased by €3 per week. This increase applied to State pensions, but also to Widows/Widowers/Surviving Civil Partners pension recipients aged 66 and over, Carer's Allowance recipients aged 66 and over and Incapacity Supplement recipients aged 66 and over.
A widow/widower/surviving civil partner aged between 60 and 65 years, whose late spouse/civil partner received the Household Benefits package from this Department, may qualify for that package if they otherwise satisfy all other conditions and receive a relevant qualifying payment.
Where the surviving spouse/civil partner was the person in receipt of the allowance(s) they can retain the Household Benefits package provided that the conditions for receipt of the allowance remain satisfied. Where a widow/widower/surviving civil partner is also in receipt of half rate Disability Benefit this will not prevent him/her from qualifying for the Household Benefits Package.
The Fuel Allowance scheme was increased from €20 to €22.50, which is of benefit to many disadvantaged widows/widowers/surviving civil partners of all ages and householders on long-term welfare, and will assist with meeting the costs of their heating needs during the winter season. To receive Fuel Allowance, Widows/Widowers/Surviving Civil Partners pension recipients must also satisfy the other conditions for that payment, i.e., be unable to provide for their heating needs from the resources of their household, live alone or only with one of a list of exempted persons, and satisfy a means test. All recipients of non-contributory payments are accepted as satisfying the means-test.
In Budget 2015 the Government increased the living alone allowance to €9.00 as a further support.
In addition there are arrangements in place to provide financial assistance to people who are unable to meet costs incurred with unexpected expenses. This payment which is means tested is paid through the Department’s supplementary welfare allowance scheme.
The appropriate levels of welfare support will be considered by the Government in the coming days, with due regard to the available resources. The outcome of this process will be announced on Budget Day.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
164. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will reduce the waiting time for the processing of social protection payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29179/16]
View answerProcessing times for all schemes are kept under constant review. My Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised.
In addition, the staffing needs of my Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
165. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of women who ceased employment to raise their families; the number who ceased employment due to the marriage ban in the public sector; the number as a result who are ineligible for State pension and are a dependant of their spouse; the number who have returned to the workplace and remain ineligible for the contributory State pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29180/16]
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.
To qualify for a state pension (contributory) a person must satisfy a number of criteria. One of these is that they have at least 520 paid contributions (i.e. 10 years). However this of itself does not qualify someone for a full rate contributory pension. As with such pensions in other countries, there is a separate criterion to decide the rate of payment for those who do qualify.
Since 1961, when contributory pensions were introduced in this State, the ‘yearly average’ contributions test has been used in calculating the rate of pension entitlement. Entitlement is banded, with the maximum rate payable to those with a yearly average of 48-52 contributions, and the minimum rate payable to those with a yearly average in the range of 10-14 contributions per year.
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.
There are a number of reasons why someone might not have sufficient contributions paid to qualify for a State pension (contributory). Some would have been employed in the public service, others would have worked abroad and qualified for a foreign pension based on foreign contributions, and some would have spent significant periods out of the labour force altogether for a number of reasons, e.g., caring for children or elderly relatives, prolonged periods of unemployment or incapacity and other circumstances. In some cases, a person might never have been in insurable employment.
The statistics requested by the Deputy are not available to my Department.
Any questions regarding the number of public servants affected by the Marriage bar, or the consequent impact to the public service pension provision would be a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
