Written Answers Nos. 70-99
76. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the women affected by the gaps in the homemaker's scheme can expect to see the changes that will bring them in line with post-1994 women; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46890/18]
View answerA policy to introduce the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to pensions calculation was adopted by Government in the National Pensions Framework in 2010, as was the decision to base the entitlements of all new pensioners on this approach from around 2020.
In advance of this, on 23 January last, the Government agreed to allow pensioners, born on or after the 1st September 1946, affected by the 2012 changes in rate bands, to have their state pension (contributory) entitlement calculated under an interim “Total Contributions Approach” (TCA). The changes also provide for up to 20 years of home caring periods in the calculation of that entitlement, for those who took time out of the workplace for parenting children under age 12, or individuals who needed increased levels of care. The new HomeCaring periods recognised under the system are expected to significantly assist many people as it is not restricted to post 1994 periods of care, unlike the existing Homemakers scheme.
The changes apply to those who reached pension age on or after 1st September 2012 who were awarded less than maximum rate, on post Budget 2012 rate bands.
Currently there are approximately 79,000 pensioners in this category and my Department is now in the process of issuing Information Letters to each of them.Work on examination of the social insurance records of the pensioners concerned commenced in September. As social insurance records are unique to individual pensioners, this manual examination phase is expected to continue to the end of the year. To date, over sixty temporary staff members have been recruited to work on this phase. Further recruitment will take place in January 2019 when the first pension reviews are expected to get under way and it is anticipated that the first review outcomes will be notified to pensioners during Quarter 1 2019.
Payment of increases, where awarded, will be made immediately after an individual's review is completed. If a pensioner does not qualify for an increased rate, they will continue to receive their existing rate of entitlement.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
79. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason there is a backlog of claims in the carer's allowance section (details supplied). [46893/18]
View answerMy Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
Carer's Allowance is a means-tested payment, made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that they require that level of care.
The target processing time for the scheme is to finalise 70% of new claims within 12 weeks. Currently the average time taken to process new applications is 17 weeks.
The principal reason for the length of time taken to process a Carer's Allowance claim is the growth in recent years in the number of applications received; these increased by 31% between 2015 and 2017.
It is also the case that social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process.
Before a decision can be made on entitlement to Carer's Allowance, evidence must be provided in respect of the carer’s habitual residence in the State, the level of care they provide, their means and also that the person being cared for has such a disability that they require full-time care and attention. It is sometimes the case that the documentary evidence provided at initial application stage is incomplete or insufficient and this can contribute to the time taken to process applications.
The Department recently launched a re-designed Carer's Allowance application form which includes a new Care Report section which has been arrived at through consultation between officials and medical assessors of my Department and representatives and members of Family Carers Ireland. This new form allows carers to provide more information on the type and level of care they provide, with an aim to providing Deciding Officers with the information they need to expedite decisions on entitlement.
Also, additional staff have also recently been reassigned to the Carer's Allowance area to work on claims processing and this should lead to a reduction in both processing times and in the time taken to implement Appeals Officers' decisions.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
81. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the issues with the new system for illness benefit will be rectified; if additional staff will be allocated in order to address the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46755/18]
View answer83. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to address delays affecting illness benefit payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46461/18]
View answer91. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if illness benefit recipients that have not received payments or are receiving payments sporadically owing to the recent information technology systems failure and that are experiencing ongoing financial hardship will be automatically granted an exceptional needs payment; and if so, if payments in such instances are means-tested. [46637/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 83 and 91 together.
My Department has experienced significant difficulties in processing illness benefit payments in recent times and regrettably these difficulties impacted people in a manner that has correctly been described as unacceptable.
This is a matter of great concern to my Department and I am extremely disappointed and deeply embarrassed by our failure to maintain our usual standard of service.
System Change
The root of difficulties lies in the transfer of the illness benefit scheme to the core Business Objects IT platform on 4 August 2018. This transfer had a number of objectives including:
Moving the illness benefit payments off an old IT platform which is approaching end of life to a newer IT platform which is already managing most of my Department’s other payments.
Realising cost savings by eliminating the need for labour intensive data entry and enabling the re-use of existing data already on the Business Objects platform.
Facilitating, in due course, the move from submission of paper medical certificates by people to one whereby an e-certificate is transmitted electronically from the GP to my Department.
Facilitating, also in due course, the move away from certification each week by a GP to a system where a single certificate is provided to cover the entire illness period.
The system change has worked effectively for about 80% of people who claim illness benefit but a number of significant difficulties arose which affected payments.
The Split-Payment Issue
The redesign of the medical certificate enabled the forms to be scanned rather than manually entered into the system. However, approximately 50% of GP practices initially continued to submit ‘old’ form medical certificates. This led to long delays in claim processing on the new system in early August.
These delays were overcome by my Department implementing an ‘automatic certification’ process to ensure that people, including those whose GPs were not submitting the correct certificates, got paid.
While this process did ensure that people received their payments it did result in approximately 15% of recipients receiving a split payment in the period from September to November. People who received split payments were not underpaid as a consequence of this approach; the total amount paid was in accordance with their entitlement.
During this time, my Department also deployed additional staff to process old form certificates received from GP practices. This allowed us to cease the auto-certification process in mid-October and the issue of split payments has since been largely resolved. Approximately 75% of medical certificates now being received are in the correct format. The remaining forms are being processed manually on the day they are received.
Payment Gaps/Missed Payments
The removal of the auto-certification process has belatedly exposed some underlying deficiencies in the design and operation of the new illness benefit system.
The main issue identified relates to the transition from a payment-in-arrears approach to a current-week payment approach, i.e. from a system whereby people are paid their entitlement the week after a period of certification, to one where they are paid during the week of certification. This leaves very little tolerance for late receipt of certificates once a claim is in payment. This is causing significant uncertainty for people.
The new system also has very tightly defined rules which must be satisfied before a claim and a certificate can be accepted and processed. Although these rules are valid in principle, they are leading to payments being delayed for reasons that would not have been applied under the legacy system.
Measures Taken to Address The Payment Issues
My Department is taking three main steps to resolve the issues just described.
First we have deployed additional staff to process the tasks and respond to enquiries arising from the tight application of scheme rules by the new system.
Second, we have developed some new IT routines or ‘workarounds’ that in effect build in a seven day buffer to address the payment gap issue and automate the processing of tasks to ensure a faster flow-through to payments.
Third we are reviewing the design rules in the system, including the payment in the current week rule, and will modify the system to afford greater flexibility in processing of claims and certificates.
In addition, my Department continues to engage with the medical profession regarding the implementation of e-certification and single / closed certification. These measures will, in time, lead to better service for people.
My Department has also allocated additional managers to take responsibility for the programme of work just set out. This management team includes a full time assistant secretary and additional staff at Principal, Assistant Principal and Higher Executive Officer level.
As a consequence of the measures just described, people who are due a payment and whose certificates and claims are in order should now receive their payment entitlement. Payment volumes were restored to normal levels last week and are being monitored on a daily basis to ensure that they remain at this level. Any further issues that may arise will be quickly identified and any further remedial action that may be required will be taken.
In stating this it is important to note there are always cases, and were always such cases under the old system, where people’s payments are legitimately stopped or paused for a variety of reasons. These types of issues will always remain and would normally be dealt with via our helpline number.
Other Issues/Measures
In addition to these system issues, my Department acknowledges that it did not communicate effectively with people in advance of the new system coming into effect, nor in the immediate post implementation period. While my Secretary General did write to all people in receipt of illness benefit some weeks ago to apologise for the difficulties and to advise of other supports available this communication was, I accept, too little, too late and was of limited comfort to those people affected.
Our experience with the illness benefit transfer has been a salutary reminder that the longer term impact of short-term remedial actions, taken with the best intentions when unanticipated issues arise or failures occur, must be carefully thought through before implementation.
In order to ensure that lessons are identified and learned from this experience, my Secretary General has commissioned an independent review of this project to be undertaken by a retired Revenue Commissioner. It is expected that it will be delivered by the end of the year and its findings will inform our approach to future system and process changes.
Conclusion
As I have already said my Department sincerely regrets and is deeply embarrassed by the difficulties recently encountered by people in receipt of illness benefit.
86. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the working family payment is not eligible for the Christmas bonus; and if she has given consideration to extending this bonus in the short term. [46862/18]
View answerThe Christmas Bonus is paid to long-term social welfare recipients, such as pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and long term unemployed people, who rely either wholly or mainly on their social welfare payments for financial support. The payment will benefit more than 1.2 million social welfare recipients this year. The Working Family Payment (WFP) is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees with children. The Working Family Payment is therefore a supplementary payment rather than a main source of income. It is designed to prevent in-work poverty for workers with child dependants and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. According to Eurostat Data, the parental in-work poverty rate in Ireland is less than half the EU average and this is, in large part, due to in-work supports such as the WFP and the Back to Work Family Dividend.
An integral part of the WFP scheme is that once the level of payment is determined, it continues to be payable at that rate for a period of 52 weeks, provided that the person remains in full-time employment. The rate of payment will not change if there is an increase or decrease in the recipient’s earnings. A key advantage of this approach, which is unique to the WFP scheme, is that claimants can be certain that they will receive a guaranteed level of income support throughout the period. The average weekly payment across all families is currently in the region of €135 per week.
There are currently over 54,000 families with almost 122,000 children in receipt of WFP. The estimated spend on WFP for 2018 is approximately €431 million, following the increase in the thresholds provided for in Budget 2018.
WFP recipients have not been eligible for the bonus in the past and any changes to the qualifying criteria for the Christmas Bonus would have to be considered in a Budgetary context.
87. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she plans to take to facilitate the award of widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's (contributory) pension in respect of persons married here following a divorce in another jurisdiction whose status for remarrying here was in order but for whom in the event of the death of either party the pension is not payable; the way in which it was permissible for them to marry here; if the matter can be examined with a view to ensuring that full legal status and recognition is applicable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46794/18]
View answerTo qualify for a widow(er)’s or surviving civil partner’s (contributory) pension, the surviving spouse must be deemed, under Irish State Law, to be the legal widow(er) of the deceased.
The legislative provisions pertaining to the recognition of foreign divorces outside the State are set out in Section 5 of the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act 1986. Responsibility for this legislation lies with my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality.
In accordance with that Act, a foreign divorce will be recognised in this State, if one of the parties to the divorce was domiciled in the country granting the divorce when those divorce proceedings were initiated. If neither party was domiciled in the country granting the divorce when the proceedings were initiated, the foreign divorce cannot be recognised here.
Where the foreign divorce is not recognised, any subsequent marriage cannot be recognised. In such a case a person cannot be deemed, under Irish State Law, to be the legal widow(er) of the deceased. Consequently, where the subsequent marriage cannot be recognised, there is no entitlement to widow(er)’s contributory pension. In this regard, the Registrar General is the statutory officer responsible for the system of marriage registration in the State.
In determining domicile for social welfare purposes, an applicant is afforded the opportunity to make available to my Department any evidence that either party to the divorce was domiciled in the state granting the divorce at the time the divorce proceedings were initiated.
Under the Family Law Act 1995 a person can apply to the Family Law Court to have a declaration made as to whether a divorce obtained in another country is recognised in this State.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
88. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is satisfied that the application process and waiting times for payments such as domiciliary care's allowance and carer's and disability allowances are both acceptable and accessible; the steps being taken to reduce waiting times for these payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46618/18]
View answerMy Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
Both Disability Allowance and Domiciliary Care Allowance claim processing times are within their respective targets. In October 2018 the average time taken to process new Disability Allowance applications was 11 weeks and the average time taken to process new Domiciliary Care Allowance applications was 10 weeks.
Carer's Allowance claim processing is currently outside the scheme target, which is that 70% of claims should be processed within 12 weeks. In October 2018, the average time taken to process new Carer's Allowance applications is 17 weeks.
In general, social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process. Before a decision can be made on entitlement to Carer's Allowance, evidence must be provided in respect of the carer’s habitual residence in the State, the level of care they provide, their means and also that the person being cared for has such a disability that they require full-time care and attention. It is sometimes the case that the documentary evidence provided at initial application stage is incomplete or insufficient and this can contribute to the time taken to process applications.
The Department recently launched a re-designed Carer's Allowance application form which includes a new Care Report section which has been arrived at through consultation between officials and medical assessors of my Department and representatives and members of Family Carers Ireland. This new form allows carers to provide more information on the type and level of care they provide, with an aim to providing Deciding Officers with the information they need to expedite decisions on entitlement.
Also, additional staff have also recently been reassigned to the Carer's Allowance area to work on claims processing and this should lead to a reduction in processing times in that area.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
90. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the legislative measures she plans to prioritise to deal with bogus self-employment and related denials of workers' rights; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46847/18]
View answer104. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of cases received and then investigated following the publicity campaign on false self-employment; if she is satisfied with the outcome to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46882/18]
View answer109. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the fact that principal contractors are underbidding for projects by being non-compliant with industry registered employment agreements, REAs, which leads to high rates of bogus self-employment. [46887/18]
View answer112. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures she is planning to take in order to deal with bogus self-employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46889/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 90, 104, 109 and 112 together.
The media campaign on false self-employment carried out by the Department in May 2018 was aimed at ensuring that there is better public awareness of the important service the Department provides in determining employment status and to help develop a better understanding of the scale and nature of false self-employment.
The dedicated web page attracted more than 10,500 visits during the campaign.
Scope section received some 50 calls and 30 emails during the campaign from individuals who had become aware of the service directly as a result of the ad campaign.
15 Scope investigations were created as a direct result of the media campaign.
The types of employment include:
- Couriers and van drivers.
- Home tutors.
- Meter readers.
- Personal finance.
- IT and media.
- Pharmaceuticals.
- Construction.
Three cases have been formally decided with PRSI class S applying in those cases. Two cases were deemed by the inspector to be correctly classed as self-employed and formal decisions did not issue. Nine cases are still under investigation. One individual did not wish to pursue the case.
Given the relatively low number of formal requests for determinations, there may be some reluctance by individuals to seek a Scope determination due to concerns over how an employer will react. This suggests that the most appropriate way to address the issue will be through inspection and that anti-victimisation measures may be required to provide assurance to workers that they cannot be victimised if they raise legitimate concerns regarding their employment status.
Although the response was low the response to the campaign will inform the inspection work of DEASP, Revenue and WRC, including in sectors other than construction. The Department has intensified its employer inspection activity since the campaign. A separate series of investigations took place in the west of the country focussed on the construction sector. Two further projects with a particular emphasis on identifying false self-employment are currently planned for the Dublin North and Mid West Divisions.
In considering whether new measures may be required to tackle an issue such as false self-employment account needs to be taken of the available data and evidence as to the prevalence and impact of the issue. It should also be considered if there are existing measures already available in legislation which can be applied to address the issue.
There are already significant legislative powers to investigate and sanction employers and employees who falsely declare their social insurance status as self-employed rather than employed.
On balance the Department's view is that, with the possible exception of anti-victimisation protections, there are already sufficient legislative provisions and powers to enable the State (and in particular the Department) to identify, investigate and enforce, including through criminal prosecutions where necessary, the false declaration of employment as self-employment.
Turning to the related matter of employment rights, there was a commitment in the Programme for Government to address the perceived increase in the casualisation of work and strengthen the regulation of precarious employment. The Employment Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2017, currently going through the Oireachtas, addresses a number of workers’ rights issues, including:
- prohibiting zero hour contracts in most circumstances;
- the requirement that the terms of employments be produced by the employer within five days;
- new minimum payment for employees called in to work but sent home again without work;
- a new right for employees whose contract of employment does not reflect the reality of the hours they habitually work to be placed in a band of hours that better reflects the hours they have worked over a reference period;
- strong anti-penalisation provisions.
With reference to compliance with sectoral or industry employment orders (REAs), these orders are an integral part of the State’s industrial relations machinery and are made under industrial relations legislation. Compliance with such orders comes within the statutory functions of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Both the WRC and industrial relations legislation and policy are a matter for the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
Bogus self-employment is consistently brought up by Deputies as a prevalent issue. If any Deputy is aware of any such cases, I strongly urge them to bring these to my attention so that my Department can investigate.
92. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on whether the change from a 30-year qualifying base for a State pension (contributory) under the 2010 national pensions framework total contributions approach to a 40-year approach as outlined in the recent public consultation document on the total contributions approach has been adequately communicated to the public in view of the fact that the recent public consultation on the issue elicited only 300 responses. [46829/18]
View answerThere has been no decision on the number of years required to qualify for a maximum rate pension under the Total Contributions Approach that will apply from 2020, and so the question of publicising such a decision does not, at this point, arise. This issue was, in fact, one of the matters the consultation sought opinions on, and those opinions will inform the final design of that scheme.
The consultation process on the proposed reforms which dates back to October 2007 was extensive and included the then Government publishing the Green Paper on Pensions, conducting regional seminars, a national conference, and consultation meetings with sectoral interests as well as the written submissions.
The Framework model arising from that did propose a 30 year requirement for a maximum rate pension under a Total Contributions Approach (TCA) from 2020, but it also had less generous HomeCaring provisions, which would have seen that reform significantly disadvantage many women who had spent time outside the labour market raising their children. I believe that this would be unfair, given legacy issues around the marriage bar and the availability of childcare.
I launched the public consultation on the design of the TCA on the 28th of May to which stakeholder groups were invited. A number of workshops were also held on the day to elicit views and feedback. Members of the media were also there and the consultation was featured extensively on broadcast and written media.
All Oireachtas members were also invited to a briefing in Leinster House. The consultation was open for over 3 months and we received almost 300 responses from individuals and organisations including open written submissions. Those submissions outlined the views of respondents upon a number of issues, including the number of years required for a full pension, as intended as part of the consultation process.
Analysis of the views submitted is being finalised. When I have considered this analysis, I will bring a proposal to Government in due course, and the scheme will be introduced through the standard democratic process, and the policy choices will, I believe, be broadly debated by members of the Oireachtas. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
94. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the recent Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report, which indicated that welfare cuts since the economic crash discriminated against the disposable incomes of women and that lone parents were disadvantaged most of all; the steps she is taking to remedy this gender-based discrimination; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46459/18]
View answerThe Programme for a Partnership Government included a commitment to develop a process of budget and policy proofing as a means of advancing equality, reducing poverty and strengthening economic and social rights. The recent ESRI report “The Gender Impact of Irish Budgetary Policy” is a valuable contribution which will further inform this process.
In terms of the findings, the report is based on two research assumptions: one where couples’ incomes are shared and the other where their income is treated separately. It is under the latter assumption that women who are not in paid work were found to have lost more than men who were not in paid work. The report states that this was mainly due to changes in the child benefit payment during the recession and the initial post-recession period. However, the report noted that this assumption (that couples do not share income) is somewhat extreme as it is more likely that couples do share a large proportion of their income.
The report also noted that there were no differences in terms of gains or losses to disposable income for single men and women or men and women in couples without children. Men and women in couples with children were also found to experience the same gains and losses, assuming that they shared their income.
The report notes that the main causes of the different gender impacts of budgetary policy are based on the economic activity of the individual and the presence of children. Therefore, the gender differences over the period in question were more likely to have arisen due to the fact that women are more likely than men to be lone parents, to be economically inactive and to benefit more from child-related supports.
In recent years, with the improvement in the fiscal situation, the Government has been in a position to introduce a range of welfare increases from 2016 onwards. This includes a package of measures to support lone parents, encouraging them into the workplace and into education and helping to reduce their childcare costs.
Most recently Budget 2019 included measures specifically targeting families, including lone parent families. These included a €5 weekly increase to working age payments, including the One Parent Family payment and the Jobseekers Transition payment; increases to the qualified child allowance of €2.20 per week for children under 12 years of age and €5 per week for children over 12; additional increases to the earnings disregard for the One Parent Family payment and the Jobseekers transition payment (to €150 per week); an increase in the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for both primary and secondary school children and an increase in the Christmas Bonus to 100%.
My Department is currently preparing the annual Social Impact Assessment on the range of tax and welfare measures included in Budget 2019. It is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely distributive effects of policies on household incomes, families, poverty and access to employment. This year, it will also include gender analysis.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
96. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cause of the difficulties experienced by persons accessing illness benefit payments over the past few months; the reason no information was available; the reason telephone calls from persons seeking advice were not answered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46823/18]
View answer105. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of the problems with the new system for illness benefit claims; and the average delay times in issuing claims. [46886/18]
View answer111. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons awaiting back payment of illness benefit payments; the number of weeks for which the payments are outstanding; the value of outstanding payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46885/18]
View answer125. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of her handling of delays in the issuing of illness benefit payments; if these delays have been fully addressed; if not, when she envisages payment issues will be resolved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46624/18]
View answer128. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps being taken to address the delays in processing and paying illness benefit; the reason for these delays; when all persons will be paid up to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46878/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 105, 111, 125 and 128 together.
My Department transferred administration of the Illness Benefit scheme to its core Business Objects IT platform in August 2018. Although the system change has worked effectively for over 80% of IB customers, significant difficulties arose following implementation for a number of customers.
My Department is taking three main steps to resolve the issues impacting on payments. First, we have deployed additional staff to process the tasks and respond to the customer enquiries. Second, we have developed some new IT routines or ‘workarounds’ that address the payment gap issues and to ensure a faster flow-through to payments. Third, we are reviewing the design rules in the system to afford greater flexibility in processing of claims and certificates.
As a consequence of the steps just described people who are due a payment and whose certificates and claims are in order should now receive their payment entitlement. I can advise that payment volumes were restored to normal levels over the past two weeks and my officials are monitoring them on a daily basis to ensure that they remain at this level. Any further issues that may arise will be dealt with as they are identified. In addition to these system issues, the Department acknowledges that it did not communicate effectively with customers.
In stating this it is important to note that there are always cases, and were always such cases under the old system, where people's payments are legitimately stopped or paused for a variety of reasons. These type of issues will always remain and are normally dealt with via our helpline number. Given high call volumes in recent weeks this service was not sufficient to deal with the queries arising but with the additional resources now deployed the helpline service has improved and is continuing to improve.
In order to ensure that we learn from the lessons of this experience, I have arranged for an independent review into how the changes to IB were planned, implemented and – importantly – communicated to customers. I expect this work to be completed by the end of the year.
Finally, I would like to sincerely apologise again for the difficulties and frustration experienced by customers who did not receive the correct IB payment or who experienced delays in their payments over the last few weeks.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.
98. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of correspondence requiring them to transfer to HAP from rent supplement; the number of persons whose rent supplement has been consequently terminated and are not in receipt of HAP, leaving them with no financial assistance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46884/18]
View answerUnder the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a long-term housing need is transferring to local authorities. The strategic policy direction of my Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term income support scheme.
The HAP scheme has been rolled out on incremental basis since 2014 and, as of 1st March 2017, it is now available in all 31 local authorities.
My Department works closely with local authorities to facilitate the transfer of long-term rent supplement recipients to HAP tenancies. As at the end of October 2018, there are 41,947 HAP tenancies in place, of which 10,279 transferred directly from long-term rent supplement with 2,949 rent supplement cases transferred during 2018.
Statistics are not maintained of cases where rent supplement is stopped due to the customer transferring to HAP and where the payment of HAP has not subsequently proceeded. If the Deputy is aware of any cases where a rent supplement claimant has experienced such difficulties, she should bring the case to the attention of the Department and my officials will follow up on them.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
99. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the date in 2019 from which parental leave will be paid under the budget forecasts; the number of persons expected to apply in 2019 and 2020; the full-year cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46883/18]
View answerAs part of Budget 2019, I was pleased to announce that 2 weeks of paid parental benefit will be provided to both parents from late 2019 for the first year of a child’s life. This is in line with the Programme for Government commitment to prioritise additional paid parental leave in the first year.
The projected cost of 2 weeks' paid leave for both parents is €32m in a full year. The following is the estimate of the costs and volume of recipients for 2019, 2020 and on a full year basis.
|
2019 |
2020 |
Full Year |
|
|
Parental Benefit scheme estimates |
€1.5m |
€22m |
€32m |
|
Estimated number of recipients |
2,700 |
41,000 |
60,000 |
It should be noted that there will be associated public service pay costs involved covering substitution costs for front line staff primarily in the Health and Education sectors.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
