Written Answers Nos. 1221-1235
1221. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who paid into each of the social insurance classes for PRSI classes (details supplied) in 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [40251/22]
View answerThe following table shows the provisional number of persons who paid into each of the requested social insurance classes in 2021.
|
2021 (Provisional) |
|
|
PRSI Class |
Number |
|
A |
2,519,136 |
|
B |
14,129 |
|
C |
244 |
|
D |
32,014 |
|
E |
19 |
|
H |
8,061 |
|
J |
233,115 |
|
K |
1,453 |
|
M |
492,167 |
|
S |
160,782 |
|
P |
0 |
I wish to advise the Deputy that these are provisional figures for the 2021 contribution year as some contributors, such as those who make their returns via the self-assessment system, have until October 2022 to discharge their social insurance liability for 2021. The Deputy should also note that individual contributors may have a liability under more than one social insurance class.
Social insurance data relating to the 2022 contribution year will be available following receipt of such data from the Revenue Commissioners which is expected to be in the first quarter of 2023.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1222. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of a jobseeker's allowance claim by a person (details supplied). [40253/22]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 7 June 2022. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. Those papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 8 June 2022 and the case was referred on 16 June 2022 to an Appeals Officer .
The Appeals Officer will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if necessary, hold an oral hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1223. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of extending child benefit to students over 18 years attending full-time second level education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40262/22]
View answerThe estimated full-year cost of extending Child Benefit to 18-year olds in secondary school is €61.5m.
This costing is based on the estimated school enrolment numbers and is subject to change in light of emerging trends in those numbers and subsequent revisions.
Any extension of the Child Benefit scheme in this manner would need to be considered in an overall Budgetary and policy context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1224. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of public service cards that her Department has issued to date in 2022 on an annual basis since the card was introduced; the age profile of card holders, if the holder is a child or adult; and the gender breakdown of the card holders in tabular form. [40279/22]
View answerPublic Services Cards (PSC) are produced following the authentication of a person's identity via the SAFE registration process. My Department has issued 5.29 million Public Services Cards to almost 3.67 million people since 2011.
Many customers will have received more than one PSC. Cards may be renewed once they have expired after 5 or 7 years or may be replaced where the cards have been mislaid or damaged.
A breakdown of the number of PSCs issued by year of issue is provided in Table 1 below.
A breakdown of the gender and current age of people who been issued with a PSC is provided Table 2 below.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Table 1
PSCs Issued Per Year 2011 - to date
|
Year |
Cards Issued |
|
2011 |
4,008 |
|
2012 |
82,212 |
|
2013 |
387,340 |
|
2014 |
656,083 |
|
2015 |
630,100 |
|
2016 |
602,895 |
|
2017 |
676,438 |
|
2018 |
603,841 |
|
2019 |
522,131 |
|
2020 |
326,818 |
|
2021 |
442,584 |
|
2022 |
356,707 |
|
Total |
5,291,157 |
Table 2
Customers Issued with PSC by Age and Gender from 2011 to date
|
Age |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
Under 18 |
10,647 |
8,212 |
18,859 |
|
18+ |
1,754,349 |
1,896,633 |
3,650,982 |
|
Total |
1,764,996 |
1,904,845 |
3,669,841 |
1225. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a breakdown of a means test in respect of the back-to-school allowance will be provided to a person (details supplied) who appears to be over the limit by €12 but is under the limit according to her calculations; if a review will be undertaken as to their eligibility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40304/22]
View answerThe Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year.
In order to qualify for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, an applicant must satisfy a number of qualifying conditions, one of which requires the applicant’s household income to be within the relevant income limits.
A review of the eligibility to the allowance for the person concerned has been undertaken and their application for the allowance has not been awarded as their household income is in excess of the relevant income limit. Details of the means assessed will be sent to the person concerned.
Applications which fall outside the normal rules of the scheme may be considered for an additional needs payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme by the Community Welfare Service (CWS).
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to an additional needs payment is encouraged to contact their local Community Welfare Service. There is a National CWS Contact Centre in place – 0818-607080 – which will direct callers to the appropriate office.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1226. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection when an illness benefit or appropriate payment is likely to issue in the case of a person (details supplied) who was in a car accident on 3 April 2022 and who has received no payment since 7 May; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40306/22]
View answerThe person concerned made an application for Illness Benefit from the 7th May 2022. This claim has been awarded at a rate of €162.90 per week and arrears have issued to him paying him in full up to date.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
1227. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection if a diagnosis is required in cases in which an assessment of needs’ is supplied with domiciliary care allowance applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40337/22]
View answerDomiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. This level of care and attention must be required to allow the child to deal with the activities of daily living. The child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 consecutive months. Eligibility for DCA is determined primarily and essentially by reference to the degree of ongoing additional care and attention required by the child rather than the child's disability.
In cases where an assessment of needs is supplied with Domiciliary Care Allowance applications, a diagnosis is not required for the application process.
Applications for DCA are decided by a deciding officer on an individual case by case basis, while also considering the opinion of a medical assessor. Applicants for DCA are required to complete an application form (Dom Care 1), which details the child's disability and resulting medical and additional care needs. In addition to the details supplied on the application form (Dom Care 1), the applicant may provide any additional information or documentary evidence, medical or otherwise that is relevant to their application such as medical professional report(s) or for example a copy of the needs assessment completed by the HSE, but there is no specific requirement to provide this information. However such additional information or evidence, if available, may assist the Department's deciding officers and medical assessors to make an appropriate decision on entitlement.
While a diagnosis of a child's particular disability may assist the DCA application assessment and decision process, eligibility for DCA is not based on the type of disability but on the extent of the resulting additional care needs required by the child. A particular medical diagnosis, does not necessarily indicate the extent of the care needs required.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
1228. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the proposals there are to provide specific social protection measures to persons (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40343/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. 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.
The criteria for fuel allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to the Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance, an applicant must be in receipt of a qualifying payment, satisfy a means test and satisfy the household composition test. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.
While the Department's schemes are reviewed on an ongoing basis there are no plans to grant automatic access to the fuel allowance payment without regard to the qualifying criteria set out above. Any decision to do so would change the targeted nature of the scheme and would have cost implications and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.
Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1230. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if a six-month extension will be given to one-member pension arrangements to comply with the IORP II Directive. [40429/22]
View answer1231. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if a six-month extension will be given to one-member pension arrangements to comply with the IORP II Directive. [40430/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1230 and 1231 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, the supervision of compliance with the requirements of the Pensions Act 1990 (‘1990 Act’), including new IORP II related requirements introduced into that Act, is the responsibility of the Pensions Authority, which is the regulator for pensions in Ireland. The Pensions Authority is an independent statutory body, and, consequently, the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be possible or appropriate for me, or my officials, to interfere with the Pensions Authority’s compliance supervision function or to direct the Pensions Authority to extend any compliance deadline. Furthermore, IORP II requires Member States to ensure that competent authorities, such as the Pensions Authority, conduct their tasks in a transparent, independent and accountable manner.
Directive (EU) 2016/2341 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) (‘IORP II’) became effective from 13 January 2019.
IORP II requirements were transposed into Irish law by way of the European Union (Occupational Pension Schemes) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 128 of 2021) which came into force on 22nd April 2021.
The general principle followed in respect of the transposition of IORP II, in keeping with the Government’s Roadmap for Pensions Reform, is that the requirements of IORP II apply to all schemes and trust RACs, including one-member arrangements (‘OMAs’). This is in order to ensure that all members and beneficiaries are afforded equal protection irrespective of the size of the pension arrangement. It should be noted that the decision to apply the requirements of IORP II to all schemes and trust RACs was announced by the Government in 2019 and it was expected that trustees and insurance providers would have been preparing for compliance with these requirements in advance of transposition.
In the case of OMAs established on or after S.I. No. 182 of 2021 came into force on 22nd April 2021, such arrangements are required to meet all new IORP II related requirements set out under the 1990 Act, where applicable, from the date on which they were established. From a supervision perspective, the Pensions Authority has, however, outlined that it was applying a deadline of 1st July 2022 in respect of OMA’s compliance with those new requirements.
As already referred to above, compliance deadlines are a matter for the Pensions Authority, which is an independent statutory body, and it would not be appropriate for me to interfere with the Pensions Authority's supervisory function.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
1232. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will engage with unions in relation to redundancy packages for staff affected by the recent tendering process for employment services ensuring that they are fair and higher than standard statutory redundancy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40458/22]
View answerMy Department is engaged in a process, since 2019, of reviewing and expanding public employment services across the State. It has had well in excess of over 140 engagements with the community sector during this process. Senior officials from my Department have also had formal meetings with SIPTU and Forsa specific to the ongoing restructuring of services. My Department is not the employer of staff employed by Local Employment Services (LES), but my officials will continue to facilitate requests for meetings from trade union representatives concerning issues raised their members who are employed by contractors to my Department.
The preferred bidders for the new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Services and the Intreo Partners National Employment Services have recently been notified of the outcome of the procurement process. The next step is to finalise contracts and the commencement of referrals to the new service. While the process is ongoing, my Department has extended the contracts of most LES and Job Clubs until the end of August.
In circumstances where existing providers chose not to bid for the new services or were unsuccessful then I would expect that, as a first option, providers should look to redeploy any staff affected to other functions within their organisations. As with any redundancy, it is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments. If an employer is unable to pay due to financial difficulties or insolvency, an application for payment from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) under the Redundancy Payments scheme can be submitted to the Department of Social Protection (DSP). Applications can be made through the welfare partners website www.welfarepartners.ie.
1233. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the fuel allowance to 30 weeks for the 2022/2023 season. [40571/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. 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.
The cost of extending the fuel allowance season by two additional weeks to 30 weeks is estimated to be in the region of €24.5 million, based on current recipient household numbers and payment rates.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1234. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person on a part-time and or full-time community employment scheme may claim the working family payment; if not, the basis on which they cannot claim the payment. [40578/22]
View answerCommunity Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in work within their communities on a temporary, fixed-term basis, to improve their prospect of returning to employment. The CE scheme enables participants to make a significant contribution to their communities while upskilling themselves for prospective future employment.
The Working Family Payment is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees, with children, who are on low earnings. It is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependents and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. One of the qualifying conditions for Working Family Payment is that a person must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee. This requirement is set out in Section 231 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 (as amended).
Article 175 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations 2007 (as amended) provides the circumstances in which a person is regarded as being in remunerative full-time employment for the purposes of the Working Family Payment. These circumstances exclude participants on certain employment schemes. Specifically, Article 175(2)(a) provides that remunerative full-time employment shall not include participation on a Community Employment Scheme.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
1235. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the cost in a full year of paying current fuel allowance payments to all those in receipt of any social assistance payment regardless of time on that payment or living alone rules, etc., and of paying the fuel allowance to all those in receipt of any social insurance payment. [40592/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. 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.
The cost of extending the fuel allowance payment to all those in receipt of a social assistance type payment is estimated to be in the region of €361million in a full year, based on current payment rates and a 28-week fuel season.
The cost of extending the fuel allowance payment to all those in receipt of a social insurance type payment is estimated to be in the region of €594 million in a full year, based on current payment rates and a 28-week fuel season.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
