Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 September 2018
207. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the previous occasion on which her Department reviewed guardian payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39204/18]
View answerOne of the roles of the Department is to provide income support to families with children in the State. Guardian’s payment (contributory) and guardian’s payment (non-contributory) are, respectively, social insurance and social assistance (means-tested) payments made to a person caring for a child, where that child is defined as an orphan under social welfare legislation. The purpose of the guardian’s payment scheme is to provide income support in respect of those children whose parents are unable to provide for them, through death or other circumstances.
Currently, there are around 1,600 people receiving guardian’s payments in respect of approximately 2,300 children. Expenditure on guardian’s payments schemes (contributory and non-contributory) was €19.7 million in 2017.
The guardian’s payments scheme was reviewed in 2011. The main recommendation from that review was that my Department should consult with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs [then the Department of Health and Children] regarding the possible alignment of the foster care allowance scheme and guardians payment. That consultation has highlighted that there are very different policy perspectives and principles governing both schemes, that the nature and purposes of the schemes are diverse, and that the qualifying and operating conditions of the schemes vary considerably.
Since that review, budget increases of €20 per week have been implemented in Budgets 2017 and 2018. The latest increase of €5 per week, implemented from March 2018, brings the weekly rate to €181; the highest rate of weekly child income support paid by my Department.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
