Written Answers Nos. 570-587
570. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of all social welfare entitlements arising from PRSI contributions for PAYE workers in receipt of widow’s and widower’s pensions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49099/18]
View answerThe entitlements of PAYE workers in receipt of widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension will depend on the class of social insurance contribution an individual has paid.
Social welfare entitlements are based on the class of PRSI being paid for an individual. For example, Class A contributors pay a higher combined employee and employer PRSI rate and qualify for all social welfare payments, whereas modified rate contributors pay a smaller combined PRSI rate and qualify for a smaller set of entitlements.
The PRSI contributions classes that give entitlement to widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's contributory pension are Classes A, E, B, C, D, H and S.
A widow, widower or surviving civil partner who pays PRSI at Class A gains entitlement to all social welfare schemes whereas a widow, widower or surviving civil partner who is a Class B modified rate contributor will not qualify for State pension contributory, jobseeker's benefit, maternity benefit, adoptive benefit, paternity benefit, health and safety benefit, treatment benefit, illness benefit, invalidity pension and partial capacity benefit. A Class B contributor also gains entitlement to limited occupational injuries benefits only.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
572. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of social welfare payments available at Ballylongford post office, County Kerry before its closure; the number that were transferred to a nearby post office or to bank accounts, respectively; the reason no application form was available for persons (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49113/18]
View answerThe last full month for which figures are available for Ballylongford post office in County Kerry is August 2018 and in that month there were 923 payments made at the outlet. Figures for the number of persons previously paid at Ballylongford who opted to be paid at a different post office or who opted to be paid by electronic fund transfer (EFT) directly into their bank, post office or credit union account – where payment by EFT was an option – are not available.
When a post office is closing, An Post staff inform welfare customers that the office is closing and that their payments will be redirected to the nearest post office. An Post also display notices about the closure in the office. In addition customers are advised to contact the Department should they wish to make alternative arrangements, that is use a different post office or a different method of payment if appropriate.
My Department’s officials also write out to the individual social welfare customers on long-term schemes, e.g. State Pension, who use the post office which is due to close. These customers are informed of the upcoming closure and offered the option of selecting an alternative post office or of using a different method of payment if appropriate.
An Post will automatically redirect payments to the closest post office in the event that social welfare customers have not expressed a preference for an alternative outlet to my Department. Social welfare recipients can at any time contact the Department seeking to change their preferred post office or payment method. It should be noted that it is a requirement for some social welfare schemes that the payment be collected at a post office. However, where alternative payment methods are available customers will be offered the choice.
573. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason rent support has not been paid in the case of a person (details supplied) who has provided all the information requested; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49122/18]
View answerThe purpose of Rent Supplement is to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible persons living in private rented accommodation, where they are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.
The rent supplement application in the case of the person concerned has been processed and awarded with effect from 1/6/2018. All arrears due will be included in the first payment which will issue to the person concerned on 29/11/2018
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
574. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Sligo will have a decision on their invalidity pension application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49123/18]
View answerInvalidity pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.
The department received a claim for IP for the gentleman concerned on 22 August 2018. His application was disallowed on the grounds that the medical conditions for the scheme were not satisfied. He was notified on the 22 November 2018 of this decision, the reasons for it and of his right of review and appeal.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
575. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a person (details supplied) will receive illness benefit payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49126/18]
View answerAn Illness Benefit claim for the person concerned was received on the 23rd August 2018.
The person concerned submitted a medical certificate for the period 14th August 2018 to the 20th August 2018. As no payment is made for the first six days of illness under the Illness Benefit scheme and the customer has not submitted any further medical certificates no payment has issued.
If the person concerned remains ill and unfit for work, a further medical certificate should be submitted to the Department for the periods of illness in order for payments to issue.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
576. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a person (details supplied) will receive illness benefit payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49127/18]
View answerThe Occupational Injury Benefit claim for the person concerned has been fully paid for the period in which she was medically certified as unfit for work. A Final certificate was received covering the period up to the 7th November 2018 and the claim is now closed.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
577. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of households in each county in receipt of the working family payment in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49128/18]
View answerWorking Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly tax-free payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children. WFP is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependents and to offer a financial incentive to take up employment.
The number of households currently in receipt of WFP in each county is as follows:
|
County |
WFP Recipients |
|
Dublin |
12,465 |
|
Cork |
5,484 |
|
Donegal |
2,705 |
|
Galway |
2,452 |
|
Kildare |
2,311 |
|
Limerick |
2,296 |
|
Wexford |
2,259 |
|
Meath |
2,090 |
|
Louth |
2,048 |
|
Tipperary |
2,006 |
|
Waterford |
1,755 |
|
Kerry |
1,690 |
|
Mayo |
1,499 |
|
Wicklow |
1,322 |
|
Cavan |
1,252 |
|
Clare |
1,173 |
|
Westmeath |
1,157 |
|
Laois |
1,032 |
|
Monaghan |
1,030 |
|
Offaly |
1,011 |
|
Kilkenny |
941 |
|
Carlow |
932 |
|
Longford |
758 |
|
Roscommon |
737 |
|
Sligo |
719 |
|
Leitrim |
385 |
|
Down |
41 |
|
Fermanagh |
24 |
|
Derry |
18 |
|
Armagh |
16 |
|
Tyrone |
15 |
|
Antrim |
2 |
Grand Total 53625
578. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of a pension review for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49131/18]
View answerOn 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 changes apply to those who reached pension age on or after 1 September 2012 who were awarded less than maximum rate, on post Budget 2012 rate bands. The changes do not apply to anyone already entitled to maximum rate state pension (contributory).
Currently there are approximately 79,000 pensioners in this category. My Department has issued Information Letters to over 70,000 of these pensioners who are resident in Ireland. The remaining over 8,000 pensioners resident outside of Ireland are expected to receive these letters in December.
The Information Letter informs pensioners that my Department will contact them directly with the outcome of their individual pension review, or a request for further information regarding gaps in their social insurance record, if required to complete their review. It is not necessary for anyone to contact the Department on this matter.
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 seventy 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 following enactment of the Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registrations Bill 2018. In line with this timeframe, 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. Given the numbers involved, it will take my Departments a number of months to work through all the reviews. In all cases, where the outcome of the review results in an increase in state pension (contributory) entitlement, the increase will be backdated to 30 March 2018 or the date of a person's 66th birthday if later, and arrears will be paid.
Personal pension entitlement rates will not be reduced as a result of this review. 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.
579. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason persons on the housing waiting list and that have been in receipt of rent supplement on a long-term basis are being instructed to move from rent supplement to housing assistance payment; the supports that have been put in place to assist persons in this regard; if her attention has been drawn to the stress and worry that this is causing persons prior to Christmas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49156/18]
View answerThe purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term income support to assist with accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation. The scheme plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, supporting approximately 25,700 recipients for which the Government has provided €180 million for in 2018. The strategic policy direction of my Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term income support scheme.
Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a long-term housing need is being transferring to local authorities. HAP has been rolled out on incremental basis since 2014 and is now available in all 31 local authorities. There are currently over 42,500 HAP tenancies in place of which almost 10,200 have transferred directly from rent supplement.
My Department works closely with local authorities to facilitate the transfer of long-term rent supplement recipients to HAP tenancies. Under these transfer arrangements, long-term rent supplement tenants are requested in writing to contact their local authority to have their housing needs assessed. It should be noted that this request is not an application for HAP. Where a customer fails to respond to this letter within 6 weeks, they are provided with a further 6 weeks to respond to this request. Where a customer has concerns in relation to complying with this request, they should make contact with the Intreo office administering their rent supplement claim.
580. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if periods spent caring for an adult needing an increased level of care will count as homecaring periods if the person doing the caring was not in receipt of carer's allowance or benefit as a result of being above the means test threshold for those payments during the period of care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49165/18]
View answerThe Government intends to introduce a Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to establishing the level of entitlement for all new state pension contributory claims from 2020 onwards (TCA2020). It is intended that this scheme will include provisions for periods of home-caring. I launched a public consultation on this proposal earlier this year in May, which closed in early September. The consultation sought input on a range of relevant factors which included the amount of contributions needed for a full rate contributory state pension, the amount of credited contributions a person could avail of, the level of provision of Homecaring periods, and whether there would be a "phase-in period" for the final model.
Following examination and consideration of the submissions to the consultation, my officials will prepare proposals for the design of the new approach for consideration by the Government in due course. Once the model is implemented, calculation of a person's pension will take into consideration all paid contributions, all credited contributions and all periods of homecaring subject to whatever limits are imposed through the implementing legislation.
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. There is no post-1994 restriction on the years during which this caring period will have taken place.
While periods of Carer's Benefit or Carer's Allowance may be taken as evidence of having been a carer, people who did not satisfy the PRSI conditions of the Carer's Benefit scheme, nor the means-test of the Carer's Allowance scheme, may still be awarded HomeCaring periods, if it is established that they were full-time carers during the periods in question. Such awards will be made on a case-by-case basis.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
581. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if disablement benefit will be disregarded from the financial assessment for payment of fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49169/18]
View answerThe fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €630 each year) from October to April, to over 372,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €227 million in 2018. 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 an electricity or gas allowance under the household benefits scheme at an estimated cost of €182 million in 2018.
Disablement benefit it is not a qualifying payment for fuel allowance and therefore, no fuel allowance is payable if a person in a household is in receipt of disablement benefit.
The appropriate levels of welfare support including eligibility for fuel allowance are considered by the Government during budget negotiations, with due regard to the available resources.
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.
In 2016 the Government launched a comprehensive Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty following extensive public consultation. This Strategy is spearheaded by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. It sets out the Government’s commitment to protecting vulnerable households from energy poverty through a combination of supports, investment in schemes to improve energy efficiency, and energy efficiency awareness initiatives. One of the best ways to tackle fuel poverty in the long term is to improve the energy efficiency of the dwelling through proper building and household insulation. The Warmer Homes Scheme, administered by Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland, is designed to do that.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
582. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the case of a person (details supplied) will be investigated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49170/18]
View answerAs requested a statement has been issued to the person concerned confirming the amount of money he receives weekly under the Partial Capacity Scheme.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
583. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost if the 2019 budget for the rural social scheme increased by 12%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49317/18]
View answerThe 2019 allocation for the rural social scheme is €53.11 million. On this basis, a 12% increase in the budget for the scheme in 2019 would cost €6.37 million in a full year.
The costs shown above are on a full year basis and are based on the estimated number of recipients in 2019. It should be noted that these costs are subject to change in the context of emerging trends. Recent budgets have been forward looking, allocating limited resources in a prudent way, to make sure that everyone benefits from the economic recovery.
584. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an application for a working family payment by a person (details supplied) will be expedited. [49325/18]
View answerWorking Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly tax-free payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children.
The person concerned recently resumed employment.
In order to reinstate WFP further details are required in respect of their current employment.
The Department contacted the person concerned on 22nd November 2018 and has requested written confirmation of their current employment.
On receipt of the requested details from the person concerned, a decision will be made on their entitlement without delay and they will be notified in writing.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
585. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding the pension entitlement of a person (details supplied); if the person will benefit from forthcoming pension changes; if compensation will be offered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49327/18]
View answerOn 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 changes apply to those who reached pension age on or after 1 September 2012 who were awarded less than maximum rate, on post Budget 2012 rate bands. The changes do not apply to anyone already entitled to maximum rate state pension (contributory).
Currently there are approximately 79,000 pensioners in this category. My Department has issued Information Letters to over 70,000 of these pensioners who are resident in Ireland and the person concerned was one of these pensioners. The remaining over 8,000 pensioners resident outside of Ireland are expected to receive these letters in December.
The Information Letter informs pensioners that my Department will contact them directly with the outcome of their individual pension review, or a request for further information regarding gaps in their social insurance record, if required to complete their review. It is not necessary for anyone to contact the Department on this matter.
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 seventy 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 following enactment of the Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registrations Bill 2018. In line with this timeframe, 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. Given the numbers involved, it will take my Departments a number of months to work through all the reviews. In all cases, where the outcome of the review results in an increase in state pension (contributory) entitlement, the increase will be backdated to 30 March 2018 or the date of a person's 66th birthday if later, and arrears will be paid.
Personal pension entitlement rates will not be reduced as a result of this review. 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.
586. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a disability allowance application by a person (details supplied) will be assessed and decided without further delay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49351/18]
View answerFollowing the submission of further medical evidence by the person concerned, their case has been reviewed and they have been awarded disability allowance (DA) with effect from 23 May 2018. The first payment will be made on 28 November 2018.
Arrears of DA due have been calculated and issued to the person concerned on 23 November 2018.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy
587. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the length of time a social welfare inspector can stop payments to a person in receipt of a payment while they investigate a situation. [49359/18]
View answerA social welfare inspector does not stop payments to a person in receipt of a payment while they investigate a situation. A Deciding Officer may suspend a payment to a person in certain circumstances.
Payments to customers are not suspended unless there is a valid reason for doing so, for example, failure to sign, no reply from the customer to a request for information or insufficient information supplied by the customer in order to progress a claim review or investigation. Claims may be suspended temporarily pending customer investigation. In situations where the customer does not engage with my Department they are advised that their claim will be closed within 14 days.
In cases where there is ongoing co-operation between the customer and the Inspector and/or the Deciding Officer cases can be reviewed without recourse to payment suspension.
Staff in the Department are engaged with customers throughout the entire lifecycle of their claim, including the undertaking of regular reviews for all schemes on an ongoing basis. A person’s entitlement to a social welfare payment is reviewed on a continuing basis to ensure that the conditions of the scheme are satisfied. Reviews vary from desk assessments, home visits, written and verbal enquiries, and face to face interviews with customers at the counter, depending on the nature of the review or investigation.
Decisions following a review or investigation are given to customers in a timely fashion once all the information requested is made available to staff in my Department to enable them to complete their investigation.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
