Written Answers Nos. 578-599
578. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons signing for homemakers credits; the percentage of the estimated number of homemakers this represents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30848/17]
View answerThe homemaker’s scheme was introduced on 6 April 1994 and provides that a period of up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age (or caring for incapacitated people over that age) can be disregarded when a person’s social insurance record is being averaged for pension purposes; subject to the standard qualifying conditions for state pension (contributory) also being satisfied.
Recipients of child benefit (who are providing the child with fulltime care), carer’s allowance, carer’s benefit or carer’s support grant are automatically entitled to the homemaker’s scheme and are not required to make a separate application. Their entitlement is taken into consideration when they reach pension age and when their state pension (contributory) entitlement is being calculated.
As the majority of the homemaking periods are only registered when a person reaches pension age, my Department does not have statistics on the number of persons who are currently homemaking. In total, 25,000 homemaking periods have been registered with the Department since the start of the scheme.
579. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if a carer's allowance payment in the case of a person (details supplied) will be backdated to 13 August 2015 as stated in correspondence dated 16 March 2016; if her Department will acknowledge this decision as a Departmental error; and if the repayment being demanded by her Department will be set aside in view of the overall circumstances of the case. [30863/17]
View answerAn application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 10 August 2015 in respect of his wife who is his care recipient.
The application was awarded on 10 March with effect from 13 August 2015 and the first payment issued to his nominated post office on 7 April 2016.
The person concerned was notified on 10 March 2016 of this decision, the reason for it and of his right of review and appeal.
Net arrears amounting to €556.00, due for the period from 13 August 2015 to 6 April 2016 were paid to the person concerned on 13 April 2016. In accordance with social welfare legislation, any overlapping payments made to him during this period, in this case jobseeker’s allowance, were deducted from the gross arrears.
The wife of the person concerned was previously in receipt of a carer’s allowance in her own right to provide care for another person. Social Welfare legislation prohibits a person from receiving carer’s allowance as a carer while another person is receiving carer’s allowance in respect of them as a care recipient.
As the wife of the person concerned continued to claim a carer’s allowance from 12 August 2015 to 21 October 2015, an overpayment occurred. She was notified on 3 June 2016 of this overpayment, the amount in question and the reason for it and of her right of review and appeal.
No appeal was lodged in relation to this overpayment and deductions commenced on 16 August 2016 from her weekly supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) in recovery of the debt owing. She subsequently applied for and was awarded a disability allowance (DA) in her own right. Weekly deductions are currently being made her DA payment to recover the outstanding debt. These deductions will continue until the amount owing to the Department is paid in full.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
580. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Social Protection when an application will be processed for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30929/17]
View answerI confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 22 February 2017 in respect of her care recipient aged 10 years.
It is a condition for receipt of carer’s allowance, that where the care recipient is aged less than 16 years of age, a domiciliary care allowance (DCA) must be in payment in respect of that child.
An application for DCA is currently awaiting decision. Once a decision is made, the application for CA will be processed without delay. The person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy
581. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of children eligible to receive and the number in receipt of the school meals programme; and the estimated cost of expanding the programme by 10% to provide for a wider eligibility. [30931/17]
View answerThe school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,460 schools and organisations benefitting over 200,000 children at a total cost of some €47.5 million in 2017. The funding for the scheme was increased this year, as part of Budget 2017, by an additional €5.5 million (13% over the previous year’s allocation) which will benefit over 50,000 children.
Based on the 2017 budgetary allocation of €47.5 million, the additional annual costs of expanding the school meals programme by a further 10% is €4.75 million. Changes to increase the funding of any scheme administered by my Department would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
582. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the actions she plans to take in view of the recent report on lone parents published by the Joint Committee on Social Protection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30964/17]
View answerI have recently received the report of the Joint Committee on Social Protection on the position of lone parents in Ireland.
I would like to thank the Committee for their work on this issue which I know included discussions with a wide range of stakeholder groups and officials from this Department. I have no doubt it will make a valuable contribution to the policy on this issue.
The report and its recommendations are currently being considered by my Department. In addition the independent review of the changes to the One-Parent Family Payment, which was agreed during the passage of the Social Welfare Act 2016, is currently well underway and is due to report by the end of August this year. I anticipate that both of these reports will be of great assistance to me and my Department in this important area.
583. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full year cost of increasing the qualified child increase from €29.80 to €32.30; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30965/17]
View answerIncreases for a Qualified Child (IQCs) are paid as child-related supplements to most weekly social welfare payments in recognition of the need for greater incomes among benefit-dependent households with dependent children. The current full rate of payment is €29.80 per week per dependent child. The estimated expenditure on qualified child increase in 2017 is around €471 million. The Department currently pays IQCs in respect of 356,236 children.
IQC payments do not of themselves constitute a specific social welfare scheme and entitlement to the appropriate primary adult payment must be established in the first instance.
Where children continue in full-time education, payment of the IQC can continue up to 22 years of age or up to the end of the academic year in which the child reaches 22 in the case of long-term payments as well as short-term payments that have been in payment for at least 156 days.
The estimated full year cost of increasing the qualified child increase from €29.80 to €32.30 would cost an additional €43 million. Any changes to the rate of the IQC would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.
584. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of reducing the hours work to qualify for family income supplement from 19 to 15; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30966/17]
View answerThe Family Income Supplement (FIS) is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. FIS is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependants and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. The estimated expenditure on FIS in 2017 is approximately €422 million and it is currently paid to almost 57,000 families in respect of some 126,000 children.
To qualify for FIS, a person must be engaged in full-time insurable employment which is expected to last for at least 3 months and be working for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week. A couple may combine their hours of employment to meet the qualification criteria. The applicant must also have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them or is supported by them. Furthermore, the average family income must be below a specified amount which varies according to the number of qualified children in the family.
The “hours worked” eligibility criterion has been reduced significantly since the introduction of the scheme in 1984, from 30 hours per week to 19 hours per week in 1996. Further reducing the “hours worked” requirement would have potentially significant expenditure implications.
For low income workers with less than the minimum hours of employment for FIS and working on a casual basis up to and including 3 days per week, jobseeker’s schemes provide in-work income support through daily disregards and tapered withdrawal of payments.
The number of families who are working between 15-18 hours and are earning below the relevant FIS thresholds is currently unknown.
Reducing the numbers of hours worked required to access FIS from 19 to 15 could have a number of behavioural effects including:-
- reducing the incentive to increase part-time hours;
- resulting in recipients on the minimum 19 hours threshold reducing their hours of work; and
- a reduction in the “hours worked” criteria might attract new recipients currently on higher wages above the FIS threshold, who might decide to reduce their hours in order to qualify.
Under EU regulations FIS is defined as a family benefit and is exportable in cases where the claimant is working in Ireland but where the children are living abroad. My Department has no way of predicting with any degree of accuracy the potential in-flow from this category.
For all of the reasons above my Department has no way of accurately estimating the cost of reducing the numbers of hours worked required to access FIS from 19 to 15 hours.
Reducing the “hours worked” requirement would have implications for existing working age schemes. Under jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance a person may, subject to scheme criteria, work for up to three days and continue to receive support under the schemes.
Lowering the “hours worked” threshold could also create the risk that FIS would end up inadvertently subsidising unsustainably low earnings and contributing to an increase in the levels of precarious employment.
585. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has considered or examined the feasibility of removing the condition whereby a person must be on the live register in order to access training and activation supports; if so, the implications of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30967/17]
View answerThe key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments - Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance - that are conditional on the recipient being actively seeking and available for employment, as well as, in the case of Jobseeker’s Allowance, meeting a means test. The employment services and schemes provided by the Department are focused in the first instance on this cohort of unemployed people.
Many other services are also available to people who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment. For example, employment services, such as advice on job-search activities and the use of online job search tools, are available to people if they register with the Department’s Intreo offices regardless of their social welfare status.
Unemployed persons not in receipt of qualifying payments may also be eligible to avail of up-skilling opportunities, for example through ETB training for unemployed people, but are not eligible to receive a training allowance while undertaking the course. An unemployed person who does not qualify for a social welfare payment due to the assessment of their means may be eligible to sign for social insurance contribution credits. Persons signing on for credits for 12 months or longer over the previous 18 months are entitled to participate on Momentum courses through Solas, provided that they have been actively seeking work, however they will not receive any payment. Persons signing for credits for six months or more are entitled to participate on ETB-run VTOS courses subject to availability. In the case of VTOS courses, participants do not receive a training allowance but may receive travel and lunch allowances. Springboard and Skillnets courses for unemployed people, funded through the Department of Education and Skills, are also open to people regardless of their social welfare status.
In addition, the Qualified Adult Dependent of a person in receipt of one of the qualifying payments for BTEA purposes may be approved for BTEA provided they establish an entitlement to a BTEA qualifying payment in their own right and subject to satisfying all other BTEA conditions. Those in receipt of a number of other qualifying payments (including One-Parent Family Payment and Disability Allowance) may be approved for BTEA subject to satisfying all BTEA conditions.
Action 26.5 of the current Pathways to Work Strategy commits to examining the supports required to facilitate greater participation by people with disabilities, single parents, qualified adults and individuals in need of greater support in education and training. Having reviewed this action, the Department is satisfied at present that existing supports are sufficient but will continue to review the situation in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills and SOLAS.
The Government is committed to supporting as many people as possible to participate more fully in employment and to become more self-sufficient by providing supports that address barriers they may encounter in finding and sustaining employment.
586. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in the determination of eligibility for exceptional needs payment for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30985/17]
View answerThe person concerned submitted an unsigned Supplementary Welfare Allowance application form to the Department and as this is not a complete application it was returned to the customer on 23 May 2017 with a request for the applicant to sign it and return it to the Department. To date a completed application form has not been received from the person concerned and as such the Department is not in a position to make a decision on the claim.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
587. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if the recent exceptional needs payment issued on 18 April 2017 was paid to the person or an agent in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31005/17]
View answerAn Exceptional Needs Payment in respect of funeral expenses, which issued on 18 April 2017, was paid to the person concerned and was not paid to an agent.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
589. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Social Protection the assistance available for a person that is contracted to retire at 65 years of age but is not entitled to a State pension until 67 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31008/17]
View answerThere is no statutory retirement age in the State, and the age at which employees retire is a matter for the contract of employment between them and their employers.
The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provides that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the standardising of State pension age for all at 66 years and the cessation of State pension transition. The State pension age will increase to 67 years in 2021 and to 68 years in 2028.
Where a person exits the workforce before reaching State pension age they may apply for either the jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance schemes. Jobseeker’s payments are paid to eligible jobseekers aged 18 to 66 years and all recipients of a jobseeker’s payment are subject to the rules of the scheme.
People in receipt of a jobseeker's payment must engage with my Department's activation measures and can face sanctions if they fail to do so. However, from January 2014 these criteria were eased for people aged 62 and over, such that they are not obliged to engage with the activation process. They are still able to voluntarily avail of an array of supports, which are available from my Department if they wish to return to work, training or education. Furthermore the majority of these individuals will have to register with their local office only once a year and their payments will be paid directly into their bank accounts.
Once a person has exhausted their entitlement to jobseeker’s benefit they may be eligible for jobseeker’s allowance, subject to the means test and other qualifying conditions. However, someone claiming jobseeker’s benefit from a date after their 65th birthday continues to be eligible for that payment until reaching State pension age.
590. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an appeal for carer's allowance by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31032/17]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that two appeals by the person concerned were registered in that office on 12 June 2017. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the deciding officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the cases in question will be referred to an appeals officer who will make a summary decision on the appeals based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral appeal 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.
591. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if her officials are examining a charity's (details supplied) proposal in its 2018 pre-budget submission to tackle the 145% increase in the proportion of persons that cannot afford to heat their home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31130/17]
View answerThe fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households, at an estimated cost of €229 million in 2017. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household.
My Department also pays the household benefits package at an estimated cost of €232 million in 2017. €177 million of this cost relates to the electricity or gas allowance element of the household benefits package. In addition, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, exceptional needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources and this may include exceptional heating costs.
The best way to tackle fuel poverty in the long term is to improve the energy efficiency of the dwelling. My Department works closely with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment on these issues and in moving forward the actions agreed in the energy affordability strategy. In that regard, the Better Energy Homes scheme provides support towards the installation of attic and wall insulation, and heating system upgrades.
Any decision to increase the fuel allowance payment would have to be considered in the overall budgetary and policy context. In this regard, my Department is hosting its annual pre-Budget Forum in Dublin Castle on 21 July, where I will listen to the views of representatives from some 45 NGOs, advocacy and representative organisations, including the organisation referenced by the Deputy.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
592. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to a charity's (details supplied) 2018 pre-budget submission and its proposal to increase the fuel allowance payment by €6.50 per week; the total cost of implementing such a proposal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31140/17]
View answerThe fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households, at an estimated cost of €229 million in 2017. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household.
My Department also pays the household benefits package at an estimated cost of €232 million in 2017. €177 million of this cost relates to the electricity or gas allowance element of the household benefits package. In addition, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, exceptional needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources and this may include exceptional heating costs.
The estimated cost of increasing the fuel allowance by €6.50 a week to €29.00 per week is €66 million in 2018. It should be noted that this cost is subject to change over the coming months in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2018. The best way to tackle fuel poverty in the long term is to improve the energy efficiency of the dwelling. My Department works closely with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment on these issues and in moving forward the actions agreed in the Energy Affordability Strategy. In that regard, the Better Energy Homes scheme provides support towards the installation of attic and wall insulation, and heating system upgrades.
Any decision to increase the fuel allowance payment would have to be considered in the overall budgetary and policy context. In this regard, my Department is hosting its annual pre-Budget Forum in Dublin Castle on 21 July, where I will listen to the views of representatives from some 45 NGOs, advocacy and representative organisations, including the organisation referenced by the Deputy.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
593. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to a charity's (details supplied) proposal in its 2018 pre-budget submission to make child benefit payable to families with children over 18 years of age and still at secondary school; the cost of implementing such measure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31142/17]
View answerChild Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to around 626,525 families in respect of over 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of over €2 billion in 2017.
Budget 2009 reduced the age for eligibility for Child Benefit from 19 years to less than 18 years. A value for money review of child income supports, published by the Department of Social Protection in 2010, found that the participation pattern of children in education supports the current age limit for Child Benefit.
It is not possible to give the full year estimated cost of making Child Benefit payable to families with children over 18 years of age and still at secondary school as according to data from the Department of Education and Skills there are people still attending second level institutions up to 21 years and over.
Families on low incomes can already avail of a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22 years, including:
- qualified child increases (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;
- family income supplement (FIS) for low-paid employees with children;
- the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low income families (paid at the full-time second level education rate).
These schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked with household income and thereby support low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.
Given the universal nature of Child Benefit making Child Benefit payable to families with children over 18 years of age and still in secondary school would not be a targeted approach. Any decision to would have to be considered in the overall budgetary and policy context. In this regard, my Department is hosting its annual pre-Budget Forum in Dublin Castle on 21 July, where I will listen to the views of representatives from circa 45 NGOs, advocacy and representative organisations, including the organisation referenced by the Deputy.
594. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has examined the proposal by a charity (details supplied) in its 2018 pre-budget submission to increase the back to school clothing and footwear allowance to €305; the cost of implementing such an increase; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31143/17]
View answerThe back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The 2017 payment rates have been increased from €100 to €125 for children aged 4 to 11 years and from €200 to €250 for children aged 12 years and over and attending secondary school. The additional funding for the increase in rates brings the total allocation for the allowance this year to €47.4 million, an increase of €10 million on what was originally provided.
Similar to arrangements in previous years, the majority of payments under this scheme will be paid with no application form required. The allowance will be paid in the week commencing 10 July to allow parents sufficient time to prepare for back to school. Customers who have not received notification of an automated payment should make a written application to my Department.
The pre-Budget submission for 2018 referred to by the Deputy includes the proposal to restore the allowance to the 2011 rates of payment of €200 in respect of children aged 4 to 11 and €305 for children aged 12 years and over. Using the number of children covered by the scheme in 2016 as a basis, the full year additional cost to increase the 2017 rates to the 2011 rates would be an additional €18.9 million.
Any changes to these rates would have to be considered in a budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.
The Minister for Education and Skills, has recently published a new circular on the measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of school uniforms and other costs, as part of a range of measures to take greater account of the needs of parents and students in the school system. The circular letter is available on the Department of Education and Skills website at http://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0032_2017.pdf
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
595. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to the proposal by a charity (details supplied) in its 2018 pre-budget submission to reverse the decision to means test income from part time work for those in receipt of back-to-education allowance; the cost of implementing such a proposal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31146/17]
View answerThe Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) is designed primarily to support second chance education. It is an educational opportunities scheme for persons in receipt of certain qualifying social welfare payments wishing to pursue second or third-level courses of education in order to improve their employment prospects.
Entitlement to BTEA is conditional on having an on-going entitlement to the qualifying scheme payment. The scheme has been amended in recent years to ensure that the conditions are in line with the qualifying payment. As a result, BTEA participants with eligibility based on jobseekers, transitional jobseekers or one parent family payments, who engage in part-time work, will be assessed in accordance with their primary payment. This measure ensures that only participants who continue to satisfy the means test of their primary payment will continue to receive income support under the allowance and that resources are directed at those most in need of assistance.
It is important to note that the BTEA was never intended to be an alternative form of funding for people entering or re-entering the third-level education system. The student universal support Ireland (SUSI) grant, payable by the Department of Education and Skills, represents the primary support for persons pursuing education.
A new €500 annual cost of education allowance will be made available to BTEA participants with children from the next academic year in September. This will help parents, including lone parents, to return to education. Additionally, the age-related payments will no longer apply to participants of the BTEA and, as a result, students who have a reduced payment on their primary scheme payment will now benefit from the maximum rate of payment from the new academic year.
Overall, the priority for my Department is that the BTEA will be focused, targeted and suitable for the needs of jobseekers and of the future skills needs of the economy. It is only in that context that changes to BTEA will be considered. I have no plans to change the current rules for the Allowance.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
596. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department examined a charity's (details supplied) proposal in their 2018 pre-budget submission to allow lone parents in employment with children between seven and 14 years of age to receive both jobseeker's transition payment and family income supplement if they meet qualifying criteria; the cost of implementing such a proposal; the changes required; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31148/17]
View answerAny decision to allow lone parents in employment with children between 7 and 14 years of age to receive both the jobseeker’s transitional payment (JST) and the Family Income Supplement (FIS) concurrently would have to be considered in the overall budgetary and policy context and would require Government approval.
In this regard, my Department is hosting its annual pre-Budget forum in Dublin Castle on 21 July 2017, where I will listen to the views of representatives from circa 45 NGOs, advocacy and representative organisations, including the organisation referenced by the Deputy. My Department receives a wide range of pre-Budget submissions in advance of this forum, each of which is considered as part of any Budget discussions.
In relation to cost of allowing the concurrent payment of JST and FIS to lone parents while it is a condition of the JST scheme that recipients must continue to parent alone, this is not a qualifying condition of FIS and so this information is not maintained for FIS recipients. From the data currently available on household composition within the FIS scheme, it is not possible to determine which FIS recipients, who are also lone parents, would satisfy the eligibility criteria to qualify for a JST payment. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate costing of the cost of this proposed measure.
597. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding post office payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31170/17]
View answerSuccessive Governments, and this one most notably, have consistently stated their commitment to maintaining the post office network. It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a nationwide customer focussed network of post offices in the community. My Department’s support for An Post is equally apparent. We anticipate this year that we will pay over €50m to An Post under a contract for the cash payment services to welfare customers as well as an estimated €9.7m for postal services.
The Department of Social Protection provides two main options for payment methods for its customers: payments in cash in post offices or payments direct to customer accounts in financial institutions. The Department intends, where possible, to continue to offer its many clients the choice of being paid in cash at the post office or directly into an account in a financial institution.
Departmental staff were accordingly advised in July of last year that, when dealing with customers who are making new claims or seeking to change their payment arrangements, customers can choose between payment at the post office or by electronic funds transfer. Customer wishes are to be facilitated where they choose to receive their social welfare payment at their local post office. There is no change to schemes where customer choice is not currently available for control or other specified purpose.
It is also not proposed to limit the freedom of social welfare customers to be paid directly into a financial institution if they so choose. This is in line with wider Departmental policy where the focus is on ensuring that in-work customers are paid by the most convenient method possible.
598. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 255 of 21 June 2017, if a payment system can be put in place at an early date to address the issues of a person (details supplied) in the absence of a one-parent family allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31258/17]
View answerThe application for carer’s allowance (CA) of the person concerned was disallowed on the grounds that she was not providing full-time care as required. She was notified on 2 May 2017 of this decision, the reason for it and of her right of review or appeal. To date, there has been no new information submitted which would warrant a review of the decision made in this case.
The person concerned is currently in receipt of a jobseeker’s allowance transitional (JST) payment from her local Intreo Centre. This is paid at a slightly reduced rate due to her other income from employment and maintenance.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
599. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social Protection if there is a senior official with designated responsibility for Brexit matters in her Department; if so, the grade of the designated official; the funding allocated to the said Brexit unit; the cost to date in 2017; the anticipated cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31279/17]
View answerThe Department’s EU and International section, including Irish-UK Relations, is led by an assistant secretary. The Irish-UK Relations unit has, at present, three additional staff assigned to it. These are two assistant principals, one on a full-time basis and one on a four-day per week basis, and one executive officer on a four-day per week basis due to work sharing.
In addition to the salary costs for the three extra staff referenced above, an additional €10,000 has been assigned to this unit under the Department’s administrative budget to cover travel and subsistence and the cost, where necessary, of facilitating the Department’s Brexit consultative process with key stakeholders. Expenditure, to date, is €6,271.38.
Both staffing and funding requirements are being kept under continuous review.
More generally, the Management Board of the Department of Social Protection has been fully engaged with the social protection implications of the vote by the UK to leave the EU and, indeed, the earlier negotiations on the UK’s relationship with the EU; a sub group of the Management Board is in place and the Board also receives regular updates on the key developments relating to Brexit.
