Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
109. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of removing the 13-week requalification period for those persons on partial capacity benefit; and the status of removing the 13-week anomaly by early intervention and referral. [35390/21]
View answerWill the Minister for Social Protection outline the estimated costing of removing the 13-week requalification period for those persons on partial capacity benefit, PCB, and the status of removing the 13-week anomaly by early intervention and referral?
Partial capacity benefit is a scheme which allows a person with a reduced capacity to work to return to employment or self-employment and continue to receive a social welfare payment from my Department for a period of up to three years. It is intended to act as a stepping stone payment to help a person with restricted capacity re-enter the labour market and establish an independent source of income.
Key features of the scheme include that participation is voluntary; there is no requirement that a person must undertake work that is of a "rehabilitative or therapeutic" nature; there is no restriction on the number of hours worked; there is no restriction on earnings; a person who participates in the PCB scheme may return to an illness benefit or invalidity pension payment if, for example, the employment ceases or if the person cannot continue to work; and that a person on PCB, with an underlying entitlement to invalidity pension, will retain his or her free travel pass for a period of five years.
The duration of time a person can be in receipt of partial capacity benefit is linked to the payment the person moved from, subject to a maximum of 156 weeks. In the case of illness benefit, the maximum duration of the payment is 624 payment days and this duration also applies for the purposes of partial capacity benefit.
Until recently, people formerly in receipt of Illness benefit who completed their maximum allowed duration on partial capacity benefit were being automatically placed back on that payment once they had the 13 weeks of PRSI contributions required to requalify for illness benefit. This was an administrative practice which was not in accordance with the legislation governing the scheme and I understand the Comptroller and Auditor General also drew attention to this fact. The Department has, therefore, discontinued the practice. While legally those who benefited from this practice would actually have been overpaid, I should make it clear that we are not pursuing any such overpayments.
It is a very welcome announcement that the Department will not pursue overpayments. That will alleviate the anxiety of many people. Partial capacity benefit was introduced in 2012 when there were 700 recipients. That number increased moderately over the years and now stands at 3,172 recipients. Partial capacity benefit aims to extend illness benefit or invalidity pensions. However, when the entitlement to illness benefit expires, the recipient of PCB is sometimes left without any social welfare payment for 13 weeks while waiting to requalify. This fear of losing eligibility for payment may be the cause of the modest increase in the numbers on the scheme over the years. This was highlighted in the internal review of the scheme by the Department. Implementation of all the recommendations from this report, including the 13-week requalification anomaly, was part of the report, Make Work Pay for People with Disabilities, submitted to the Government in 2012. Is the Minister still committed to recommendation 12 of that report and will she provide an update on the work on the 13-week requalification period that sees people lose their payment while waiting to be requalified?
The 13-week period was an administrative practice that resulted in the overpayment and this practice has now discontinued. However, the Department now contacts customers 13 weeks in advance of the end date of the payment duration period and the correspondence issued outlines the options for the customer to consider prior to the payment ceasing. Where a person completes the allowed period on partial capacity benefit, a new application can be made.
The application must meet all the eligibility criteria including, in the case of persons in receipt of illness benefit, the requirement to have completed 26 weeks in receipt of the payment. My officials contact them 13 weeks in advance of the payment being due to finish.
It is important to clarify that this issue was raised with me very recently by advocacy groups working in the area of disability. It is important that we examine whether that is happening on the ground. It is also important to say that Ireland has the unenviable title of having the lowest employment rate for people with disabilities in the EU. Poverty and social exclusion among people with disabilities is almost 20% lower than the EU average at 50.8%. This is a small scheme, but it is important that we fix the anomalies that we know exist within it.
A wide range of supports are available to help people with disabilities to get back to work. We have the EmployAbility Service and the ability programmes. I was delighted that we were able to provide funding so that the ability programme, which was co-funded by the EU and was due to finish in June this year, could continue. I worked very closely with the group and with the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Rabbitte, to find a solution. The group is doing some very good work on the ground in terms of helping people who have disabilities to get back into the workforce. That is just one support and there are other supports available. We continue to review them all the time. I work very closely with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on how we can improve the outcome for people with disabilities who wish to return to the workforce.
