Written Answers Nos. 81-100
91. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to address situations of economic and financial abuse in households; if she will examine ways to individualise payments in order that a person can receive payment in their own right without the consent of their spouse in cases in which consent is not forthcoming; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29326/22]
View answerPolicy responsibility for adult safeguarding falls under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Health. Officials in my Department’s Safeguarding Unit liaise with the HSE’s Safeguarding Protection Team as necessary where concerns arise of financial abuse for social welfare customers or concerns about the their being taken advantage of financially. My Department’s officials also engage constructively with their counterparts in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Decision Support Service in preparing for the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act, particularly in relation to areas of overlap with the remit of my Department.
In January 2020, my Department established a dedicated Safeguarding Unit which acts promptly on reports received of alleged abuse of social welfare payments. The Unit liaises as necessary with the Department’s scheme areas and Inspectorate, consulting and involving, as appropriate, relevant agencies such as the Health Service Executive, An Garda Síochána or Advocacy groups.
Since 2007, as part of the application process for state pensions, qualified adults have the option to receive direct payment of the increase for a qualified adult payment. The increase is paid directly to the applicant's dependent spouse, civil-partner or cohabitant, by a payment method of their choice, or to a person nominated by the qualified adult.
For all schemes across my Department, arrangements to pay qualified adults separately are arranged by the scheme area on request by the customer. Separate payments are mostly requested where a qualified adult might otherwise have no other form of income, in particular in circumstances where concerns of financial abuse or financial hardship are brought to the Department’s attention.
Any concerns of financial abuse or financial hardship may also be notified to the Safeguarding Unit for direct follow up, by emailing SafeGuarding@welfare.ie; or by calling 071-9193259; or by writing to: the Safeguarding Unit, Department of Social Protection, Social Welfare Services, College Road, Sligo F91 T384.
92. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps that she is proposing to simplify the process of registering a death to make it easier for bereaved families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34988/22]
View answerThe obligation to register a death rests primarily with a family member of the deceased. Deaths are currently required to be registered within three months of the day of death.
The General Register Office (GRO), which operates under the aegis of my Department, has initiated discussions across Government on modernising the way that deaths are registered. This follows work by the GRO to revise the manner in which all life events are registered and to provide for online and other electronic means of registering births, marriages and deaths in the State. The objective is to make it easier for parents, couples and, with respect to deaths, families who have suffered bereavements, to access civil registration services without the need to attend in person to register key life events.
Recommendations to update our current process of registration of deaths have been made by the World Health Organisation, NPHET and the Central Statistics Office. A GRO led inter-agency working group finalised a number of proposals in early 2021 on revising our current process for death registration. The proposals center on moving from the current paper-based system of registration to digital and online registration processes. Additionally, other requirements to ensure that deaths are notified quickly and that medical practitioners can certify the medical cause of death electronically were put forward.
These proposals formed the basis of a public consultation process. The responses to that consultation included feedback from a number of people who had suffered bereavement. The working group is currently finalising its consideration of the submissions received and will be reflecting on what arrangements need to be put in place to ensure any revision to the current process minimises the burden on families.
Any changes will require amendment to the Civil Registration Act 2004 and will, therefore, require consideration and approval from Government before legislation can be drafted, I would hope to bring a memorandum to Government in the autumn.
93. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of any analysis carried out by her Department on the recommendations of a report (details supplied) which was published in December 2021; her plans to introduce a cost of disability payment given the significant additional costs faced by persons with a disability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38172/22]
View answerThe Indecon report found that there is not a single typical ‘cost of disability’, rather there is a spectrum from low additional costs to extremely high extra costs of disability, depending on the individual circumstances of the person concerned.
The additional costs of disability identified by Indecon run across a number of areas of expenditure including: housing, equipment, aids and appliances, mobility, transport and communications, medicines, care and assistance services and additional living expenses.
One of Indecon’s key conclusions was that a multifaceted approach was required, involving increased cash payments, enhanced access to service provision and specific targeted grant programmes. This is why a whole-of-Government perspective is needed.
The Government has referred the report to the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, which is chaired by the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability. The Group includes Government departments, agencies, the Disability Stakeholder Group and disabled people.
This Group has oversight of monitoring the key frameworks for policy and action to address the needs of persons with disabilities. This group will consider and monitor actions required by the various Government Departments on foot of this report on a bi-annual basis.
I introduced a number of measures as part of Budget 2022 in relation to people with disabilities and Carers. These included a combination of core weekly payment rate increases, increases in earnings disregards as well as supports to employers.
Another of the key conclusion of the Indecon report referenced the significant challenges faced by Jobseekers with disabilities accessing employment. In this context this month will see my department commencing the roll out of an early engagement approach for people with disabilities.
Intreo will engage at the earliest opportunity with people with disabilities to offer them support and assistance in seeking employment.
94. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will make the application for access to community welfare officers available online given the difficulties being experienced by persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34885/22]
View answerThe Community Welfare Service delivers the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is the safety net within the overall social welfare system. This scheme helps eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents.
Customers do not have to meet in person with an Officer to make a claim. The application form, SWA1 is available online at www.gov.ie for those who can access online services. The completed application form can be posted or dropped into the local Intreo Centre where it will be processed promptly.
Access to Community Welfare Services is not limited to a face-to-face meeting. Consultations can be discreetly arranged via phone or at our Intreo Centres and Social Welfare Branch Offices which are open five days per week. A direct home visit appointment can be arranged depending on the person's needs.
The Department are currently assessing the provision of an online application process that meets the needs of our customers. The provision of SWA1 forms online will ensure that those who wish to access this scheme without needing to attend an office can do so. Customers can request a form by using CWSforms@welfare.ie.
The Community Welfare Service is ready to provide a flexible service to meet the different needs of customers, who may find themselves in a financially difficult or vulnerable situation. It is important that this service is easily accessible and responsive to customer needs. The availability of locally based Community Welfare Officers and developing a modern and targeted delivery of assistance is a key feature of the service.
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to assistance under the SWA scheme is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.
95. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will publish her response to the report of the Pension Commission and recommendations before the Dáil summer recess; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38134/22]
View answerThe Pensions Commission’s Report was published on the 7th October 2021. It contained almost 250 pages of analysis, consideration and recommendations. The report established that the current State Pension system is not sustainable into the future and it has set out a recommended approach for Government.
It is clear from the Commission’s work that State Pension reform is necessary and it is complex. It would be a strategic risk not to plan and provide for projected demographic changes, not least in terms of income adequacy for older people.
In the interests both of older people and future generations of older people, I can assure the Deputy that the Government is considering the comprehensive and far reaching recommendations in the Commission’s Report very carefully and holistically.
My officials are examining each of the recommendations and I am consulting across Government through the Cabinet Committee system. The views of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands and the Commission on Taxation and Welfare also from part of these deliberations.
Once we have considered all of these matters in detail and taken on board the views of my Ministerial colleagues, I intend bringing a recommended response and implementation plan to Government. While this is somewhat later than initially planned, I am sure that the Deputy will understand that the issues raised and views expressed by the Joint Committee and others require the most careful consideration.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
96. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports that her Department is providing for Ukrainian refugees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34517/22]
View answerIn accordance with the Temporary Protection Directive implemented in March, people fleeing the war in Ukraine have been granted the status to avail of the supports and services, including income supports and employment services, provided by my Department. This means that they can work in Ireland and access social services and the full range of social welfare supports.
As of 11th July, 42,256 Public Personal Service Numbers or PPSNs have been allocated by my Department to people who have arrived in Ireland having fled the war in Ukraine.
Almost 21,270 income support claims have been awarded across various social welfare schemes supporting 37,051 people and 8,822 Child Benefit claims have been processed in respect of some 13,000 children.
My Department’s means tested supplementary Welfare service is also available through the Community Welfare Service in my Department.
A reception facility is operating at City West Convention Centre where officials from the Department of Justice, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are available to meet arrivals from Ukraine. This centre is open 7 days a week. People who arrive through Dublin Airport are being transferred to City West.
Anyone who does not arrive through Dublin Airport can call in to my Department’s dedicated City Centre Ukraine Support Centres in Dublin, Cork and Limerick or into local Intreo Centres or Branch Offices where staff will help them to apply for a PPSN and income supports.
Since the middle of April, Intreo Employment Services have been arranging employment support events specifically for Ukrainians to gather information on their education and skills and to provide information on vacancies and jobs as well as income and training supports they may be entitled to. To date Intreo Employment Services staff have engaged with over 12,000 Ukrainians at these events.
The Department is also working closely with education and training boards to facilitate access to relevant training supports, including English language training.
97. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection the full suite of supports that are available to workers under the treatment benefit scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34932/22]
View answerTreatment Benefit is a PRSI-based scheme which provides free dental and optical services, and assistance towards the provision of audiological appliances and hair replacement products, to people who satisfy certain qualifying conditions, and to their dependent spouses/partners.
The following are the entitlements under each of the schemes.
Dental Benefit
The department pays the full cost of an oral examination once a calendar year.
Since October 2017, a payment of €42 is provided towards either:
- a scale and polish
- a periodontal treatment (if clinically necessary)
If the cost of either cleaning or periodontal treatment is more than €42, the claimant must pay the rest. This is capped at €15 for a scale and polish. There is no cap on the balance charged for periodontal treatment.
Optical Benefit
The Treatment Benefit Scheme entitles you to a free eyesight test once every second calendar year. Sight tests for visual display units like computer screens and driving licences are not covered.
Once every second calendar year, a claimant can get a payment towards one pair of:
- reading and distance spectacles
- bifocal or varifocals
- contact lenses (including disposables)
Basic frames are free. If the claimant chooses more expensive frames, the department will pay €42 towards the overall cost and the claimant pays the balance.
Medical Lenses
These specialised lenses are used to treat certain eye conditions and medical evidence is required in order to access the grant.
If a claimant needs contact lenses for medical reasons, the department will pay a maximum of €500 towards the cost of each medical lens once every second calendar year, provided the claimant has an ophthalmologist’s recommendation.
Hearing aids
Suppliers may provide or repair hearing aids once every four calendar years if they have a contract with the department.
The department covers:
- a maximum of €500 towards the cost of each hearing aid
AND
- one repair per aid in a four year period, up to a maximum of €100 per aid
Hair Replacement (Non-Surgical Scalp Product)
Suppliers may provide a non-surgical scalp hair replacement product once per calendar year if they have a contract with the department.
The department covers a maximum of €500 towards the cost of a non-surgical scalp hair replacement product where hair loss results from a disease or treatment of a disease such as cancer or alopecia.
Types of alopecia which qualify are
- alopecia areata (which includes alopecia totalis/universalis, diffuse alopecia areata, alopecia ophiasis)
- primary scarring alopecias (also known as cicatricial alopecias)
- frontal fibrosing alopecia and lichen planopilaris (scarring alopecia)
- chemotherapy induced alopecia (anagen effluvium)
- alopecia resulting from surgery or trauma, including burns.
The Department has a list of registered providers for each benefit and full details of all providers and further information on all schemes are available on the Departments website.
98. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection the reasoning behind the method of assessing capital under the various means tested schemes; if she intends on reforming this to ensure a more equitable system of assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38517/22]
View answerApplicants for social assistance payments are means-tested. A means test is a way of checking if a claimant has enough financial resources to support themselves and determine what amount of social assistance payment, if any, they may qualify for.
A maximum rate is payable where a person has limited or no means, and tapering applies to the rate payable to those with modest or more substantial means. This is because there is an expectation that those with resources can at least partly contribute towards supporting themselves.
Social welfare legislation provides that, for social assistance schemes, income and capital (such as savings, investments and property other than the family home) belonging to the claimant and his or her partner, where applicable, is assessable for means assessment purposes.
How capital is assessed can vary depending on the nature and purpose of the payment, and various disregards apply across the schemes, reducing the amount of means assessed.
For most social assistance schemes, the first €20,000 of capital is fully disregarded, the next €10,000 assessed at €1 per thousand, the next €10,000 assessed at €2 per thousand, with the remainder assessed at €4 per thousand.
For Disability Allowance and Carer’s Allowance, the first €50,000 of capital is fully disregarded. The Disability Allowance capital disregard was increased to €50,000 in 2007 in recognition of the fact that a person who is in receipt of Disability Allowance may not have had the opportunity to accumulate savings through participation in employment and that, in some circumstances, families may wish to make future financial provision for a child or sibling but are concerned that such provision would adversely affect their entitlement to Disability Allowance.
I increased the Carer’s Allowance disregard in Budget 2022 for similar reasons; family carers may decide to provide for the future care of children or adults with disabilities. Increasing the disregard in line with Disability Allowance allows for the planning of future care needs.
Any changes to the capital disregards would have cost implications and would have to be considered in the overall policy and budgetary context.
99. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection the average amount paid out by community welfare officers in Cork in 2022. [34901/22]
View answer135. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of payments that have been issued by community welfare officers in Cork to date in 2022 and for the same period in 2021. [34900/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 135 together.
The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents. Supports provided under the SWA scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as additional needs payments, which incorporate exceptional needs payments (ENPs) and urgent needs payments (UNPs).
The basic supplementary welfare allowance provides immediate assistance for those in need who are awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment or do not qualify for payment under other State schemes.
Rent supplement provides short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The scheme ensures that for those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed due to temporary loss of employment, can continue to meet their rental commitments.
Under the SWA scheme, my Department can make additional needs payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an administrative umbrella term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from a person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary.
An Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) is a single payment to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment (UNP) may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for supplementary welfare allowance but who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources or where an alternative is not available at that time. Decisions on ENPs and SWA supplements are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.
Table 1 shows the number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients in County Cork, at end of June 2021 and 2022.
Table 2 shows the number of ENPs and UNPs paid in County Cork for the period January to end of June 2021 and 2022.
This represents a snapshot of claim activity taken at 4th July 2022 and is subject to change.
Under the additional needs payments, which can have a wide range value, the amount paid will depend on a person’s weekly household income, their outgoings and the type of assistance needed. Payments are made for large items, such as help provided in setting up a home for the first time and smaller weekly supplements to assist with ongoing costs. Average payments are not collated as they would have no meaning in these circumstances.
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to a payment under the SWA Scheme is encouraged to contact their local Intreo Centre. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Table 1 - The number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients in County Cork, at end of June 2021 and 2022.
|
Month |
Basic SWA |
Rent Supplement |
Other Supplements |
|
June 2021 |
878 |
2,216 |
353 |
|
June 2022 |
1,210 |
1,642 |
310 |
Table 2 - The number of ENPs and UNPs paid in County Cork for the period January to end of June 2021 and 2022.
|
Period |
Number of Payments |
|
January to June 2021 |
2,132 |
|
January to June 2022 |
3,158 |
Note: These figures in table 2 are taken from the Department’s ENP/UNP database and represent a snapshot of the ENPs/UNPs as they are approved by an officer rather than when they are paid. Please note the figures do not capture payments that are cancelled, payments that go out of date or overpayments recouped.
100. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress that has been made under Pathways to Work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34936/22]
View answerPathways to Work 2021 - 2025, the national employment services strategy, was launched in July 2021. Stated simply, the goal of Pathways to Work is to ensure that as many opportunities as possible are filled by people who are unemployed or who are out of the labour force. This includes those whose jobs were lost due to COVID-19, those already on the Live Register pre-pandemic and those in society that face particular challenges in entering the labour market and sustaining employment.
Since Pathways to Work was launched in July 2021, there have been notable achievements in delivering on the ambition set out in the strategy. Some of the high-level successes include but are not limited to:
- Expanding the capacity of the Public Employment Service across the State;
- Providing funding for an additional 50,000 places in further and higher education;
- Introducing early access to the JobsPlus employer financial incentive in relation to applicants under 30 years of age;
- Launching the Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP), which is a 6-month, 30 hour per week voluntary work experience programme, for persons out of work for six months or more; and
- Reserving places on public employment programmes for people from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, including young people.
According to the latest estimates from the CSO’s Labour Force Survey (Q1, 2022), the Irish labour market continues to recover strongly, post-COVID. The number of people in employment is now above 2.5 million, the highest level in the history of the State, while participation rates in the economy continue to be above where they stood pre-pandemic, driven primarily by the increase in female participation. Furthermore, the unemployment rate for June stood at 4.8 percent, around pre-pandemic levels.
While these developments are welcome, I am keenly aware that not all groups have benefited equally from the improved labour market. Pathways to Work contains the goal of ensuring that all sections of society enjoy better labour market outcomes.
In addition, in order to guarantee robust oversight of Pathways to Work, external oversight of the strategy is entrusted to the Labour Market Advisory Council. I have asked the Council to provide me with a report in the third quarter of this year on its views on the progress made in the first twelve months in implementing Pathways commitments.
