Written Answers Nos. 836-855
836. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) qualifies for fuel allowance given the recent changes in the income limits; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63218/22]
View answerFuel Allowance is a means-tested payment to assist qualified households with their winter heating costs. The qualifying conditions for the scheme are available on www.gov.ie.
Applicants under age 70 must be in receipt of a qualifying payment or an equivalent payment from another country, satisfy a means test and live alone or only with other qualifying persons.
The person concerned was disallowed Fuel Allowance in January 2020, as they were not in receipt of a qualified payment. According to the records of my Department, that position remains unchanged. The person concerned is in receipt of an occupational pension.
Under Fuel Allowance scheme changes implemented from January 2023, applicants aged 70 or over no longer need to be in receipt of a qualifying social protection payment to apply for the payment; there is a new weekly means threshold of €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple; and capital (monies held) of up to €50,000 is disregarded from the means assessment. The other conditions of the scheme remain the same. On reaching 70 years, the person concerned may qualify for Fuel Allowance and is advised to re-apply, online, at that time.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
837. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in the determination of an appeal for carer's allowance in the case of a person (details supplied); when a decision is likely to issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63220/22]
View answerThe 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.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that a Carer's Allowance appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 8th November 2022. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. Those papers were received on 8th December 2022 and the case was referred to an Appeals Officer on 13 December 2022 who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if necessary, hold an oral hearing.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
838. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection if advice will be provided in relation to the case of a person (details supplied); if the matter will be examined; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63223/22]
View answerCarer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care.
I confirm that my Department received an application for Carer's Allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 25 October 2022.
One of the qualifying conditions is that the means of the person concerned must be less than the statutory limit which is €320.10 per week. Additional information in relation to the applicant’s finances was requested on 2 November 2022. A reply to this information request was received on 12 November 2022. In respect of the relevant period, the person concerned was assessed with means of €512.33. It was determined that the means of the person concerned were not less than the statutory limit and that they were therefore not entitled to CA.
The person concerned was notified on 23 November 2022 of this decision, the reason for it and of their right of appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.
Carer's benefit is a payment made to insured people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full time care. A person must satisfy various criteria for the scheme including having made sufficient PRSI contributions. A person must have made a total of 156 qualifying PRSI contributions since they started work. They must also have made 39 contributions paid in the second last complete tax year OR 39 contributions paid within the last 12 months OR 26 contributions paid in the second last complete tax year and 26 contributions paid in the year before that. The person concerned does not satisfy the PRSI conditions for carer's benefit as they have insufficient contributions since 2016.
If the person concerned is experiencing financial difficulties, they can contact their local Intreo Centre where they may apply for a payment under the Department’s Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, subject to satisfying the relevant qualification criteria.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
839. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Social Protection if use of a building (details supplied) is to be transferred to An Garda Síochána; if not, if it has instead been transferred to another Department, State agency or body; and, if so, if she will provide the relevant details regarding this change of use. [63234/22]
View answerWhile the building referred to by the Deputy was closed for significant maintenance and upgrade work in April 2022, the Office of Public Works (OPW), which owns the building, advised that a situation had arisen with a requirement to source accommodation for critical units of An Garda Síochána (AGS) in North Dublin at short notice. This requirement necessitated the sourcing of a building that was immediately available and could meet the operational requirements of AGS.
The property was identified by OPW as the only one that would meet the State’s immediate requirement in the short/medium term and, given the urgency of the situation, it was assigned to AGS with effect from 18 November 2022.
Since the closure in April 2022 the Department staff have been reassigned to another local Department office which continues to provide services for people living in the area. There is also a freephone telephone number and dedicated email addresses relating to jobseeker’s payments, one-parent family payments, Public Services Cards, community welfare services and activation remain active.
840. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of a working family payment claim for a person (details supplied); when a decision will be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63267/22]
View answerWorking Family Payment (WFP), formerly Family Income Supplement, is a weekly in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment the customer must be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment and have at least 1 qualified child who normally resides with them.
An application for WFP was received from the person concerned on 14th September 2022. The person concerned was included as a dependent on their spouse's Jobseekers claim, which is incompatible with WFP. The person concerned removed themselves as a dependent from their spouse's claim. The WFP application was reviewed by a deciding officer and awarded at a rate of €20.00 per week from 3rd November 2022 to 1st November 2023. The person concerned has been advised in writing of their award and arrears have issued to their nominated bank account.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
841. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide specific figures on the average processing times for applications for additional needs payments by month from June 2022 to date, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63273/22]
View answer842. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide specific figures on the number of additional needs payment applications which have taken longer than four weeks to finalise in each of the months from June 2022 to date; if she will provide figures regarding the following timeframes; 5-8 weeks to process; 9-12 weeks to process, and more than 12 weeks to process in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63274/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 841 and 842 together.
The Community Welfare Service (CWS) is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
Where it is clear that a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort is made to ensure that the claim is processed on the same day. Community Welfare Officers are very experienced and can generally assess when a case is so urgent that it requires an immediate response. Approximately 10% of CWS payments to customers across the country are made on this basis, which shows just how responsive the service is to an urgent customer need.
The majority of applications are finalised within two weeks of receipt of a completed application form and the necessary documentation.
Unfortunately, the level of detail requested by the Deputy is not available.
As of 12/1/23, there were just under 7,000 ANP applications being processed - this reflects less than 2 weeks work on hands. I expect this number to reduce further in the coming weeks with the assistance of the additional resources that I secured.
In addition, the number of applications for ANPs has slowed in recent weeks. This can likely be attributed to the €1.2 billion which has been paid out under the eight lump sum payments since the Budget.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
843. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will index link all social protection payments to meet the cost of living going forward; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63283/22]
View answerAs part of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025, Government committed to finalising an approach for the benchmarking and indexation of pension payments.
A smoothed earnings method to calculating a benchmarked/indexed rate of State Pension payments was also recommended by the Commission on Pensions.
In September, I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State Pension system. The measures are in response to the recommendations from the Commission on Pensions and represent the biggest ever structural reform of the Irish State Pension system.
As part of this, a smoothed earnings method to calculating a benchmarked/indexed rate of State Pension payments will be introduced as an input to the annual budget process and will be submitted to Government in September each year, from this year.
My Department has also committed to considering and preparing a report for Government on the potential application of the benchmarking approach to other welfare payment areas. Now that Government has approved an approach in relation to pension payments, my Department will examine potential benchmarking approaches to other social welfare payments during the course of this year.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
844. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Social Protection if she agrees with ETBI that the current rates for the school meal allowance scheme are unrealistic and causing the scheme to be unworkable; if she will request her Department to review the rates to bring them in line with current economic circumstances; and her views on extending the scheme to make it available to all students. [63285/22]
View answer845. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether the school meal allowance scheme should be funded and administered by the Department of Education. [63286/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 844 and 845 together.
The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations benefitting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.
Budget 2022 provided €68.1 million for the programme with an additional €9m provided to allow access to all new DEIS schools from September 2022. Additional funding for the programme has been provided for 2023 bringing the total to €94.4m. This represents a 53% funding increase in the period since 2020.
The school meals programme provides funding towards food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes: The urban school meals scheme and the school meals (local projects) scheme. The urban school meals scheme is operated and administered by local authorities and is part-financed by my department. Legislative authority for the urban school meals scheme is with my Department since 1947. The school meals (local projects) scheme is a non-statutory scheme, evolved from assistance given to local community groups by my Department since 2003. There is regular interaction between my Department and the Department of Education to ensure the scheme is operated effectively.
Funding under the school meals programme can be provided for breakfast, snack, cold lunch, dinner, hot school meals and afterschool clubs and is based on a maximum rate per child per day, depending on the type of meal being provided.
I am committed to continuing to expand the school meals programme and building further on the significant extension of the programme in recent years. In this regard, I commissioned the evaluation of the school meals programme to review all elements of the programme, including the funding rates currently being provided for the various meal options.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
846. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision on a disability allowance application by a person (details supplied) will be decided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63290/22]
View answerDisability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions
I confirm that my department received an application for DA from the person concerned on 04 May 2022.
Based on the evidence supplied in support of this person’s application, her application for DA was disallowed on the grounds that the medical qualifying condition was not satisfied.
The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 15 June 2022, and they were given the right to a review or an appeal.
Further medical evidence was received on 11 October 2022, and 09 November 2022 and a review of this decision was carried out. The original decision was upheld and the person concerned was notified in writing on 04 January 2023.
It is open to the person in question to reapply for DA or request a review or an appeal of the decision of the 04 January 2023.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
847. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the pay claim by CE supervisors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63318/22]
View answerFirstly, I wish to acknowledge the valuable and dedicated service that CE supervisors/assistant supervisors provide in running CE schemes in delivering local based community services while providing a valuable training and development opportunity to the long-term unemployed and to those often furthest removed from the labour market.
The Department, as the funder of CE schemes, received correspondence last year from Fórsa and SIPTU seeking a pay increase for CE supervisors and assistant supervisors. Fórsa and SIPTU have since referred a pay claim to the conciliation service of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The WRC issued an invite to the Department to take part in a conciliation process in December last year. As a follow up the Department brought a memo to Government indicating its intention to attend the WRC conciliation in its role as funder of these schemes and has now advised the WRC of this. In responding to the WRC, the Department stated that officials will be made available for the conciliation meeting at an early date and with short notice.
Any increase in pay rates that would potentially increase the overall cost to the state of funding schemes, or state funded activities in the wider community and voluntary sector, must take into consideration the potential cost to the exchequer. Given these budgetary implications, and the referral of other similar claims to the WRC, the Department will continue to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and consult with it on the likely terms of any settlement that may be reached as talks at the WRC progress. Any outcome from these discussions will need to be agreed by Government.
Minister Humphreys and I are fully committed to the future of CE and will continue to support and improve CE for the benefit of the supervisors and participants, given the valuable contribution being made to local communities through the provision of services.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
848. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the community employment scheme; if there are plans to reform the CE schemes; if there is a strategy to combat recruitment challenges into the projects; if there is a cost breakdown of each of the projects; the number of persons currently availing of the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63319/22]
View answerThe aim of the Community Employment (CE) programme is to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and long-term unemployed people by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their local communities on a temporary fixed term basis.
We are all very conscious of the important role that CE plays and we all wish to support them as best we can. In addition to providing valuable occupational experience and training as a stepping-stone to employment for people who are unemployed, schemes such as CE and Tús also provide important and, in many cases essential, services to their local communities.
Thankfully, given the strong labour market performance the number of unemployed people dependent on social welfare payments continues to fall. While this is very welcome it also means that the number of candidates available for CE also falls. This creates an obvious challenge.
Having said that, it is not an insurmountable challenge, and working together with CE sponsors we can, and have, devised changes that will help the schemes to continue to support their local communities. Minister Humphreys and I have announced a number of reforms and enhancements to CE over the past year.
These changes included a provision to allow CE participants who reach 60 years of age to remain on CE until they reach state pension age. We also updated the baseline year for CE which opens the scheme to a cohort of people who had previously participated in the scheme. A new pilot scheme to extend CE eligibility to people who are Qualified Adults on a jobseeker claim will be rolled out in the coming weeks: these customers are generally unemployed partners of people in receipt of a weekly jobseeker payment.
The candidate referral process for CE has been reviewed and changed. Schemes have been given new flexibility to allow them to directly recruit eligible candidates to fill 30% of places, but are also mandated to accept and place at least 60% of people referred by Intreo. This is to ensure that places do not go unfilled when there are candidates available from the Live Register. CE sponsors have also been granted some flexibility to extend individual placements and to retain existing participants in cases where no replacement is immediately available.
There is no plan to reform CE schemes, however as outlined above, the eligibility criteria for CE, the duration for participation on CE and the referral process for CE continue to be kept under active review by my Department. Both Minister Humphreys and I are very conscious of the need to support CE and we continue to meet regularly with representatives of the programme.
CE sponsor organisations receive annual contracts from my Department. Grant funding to each scheme varies, depending on the number of participants and the range of activities undertaken with a wide range of payments paid to each scheme. As there are 837 CE schemes nationally, it is not possible to provide a cost breakdown for each project in this reply, however the table below gives an overview of the total paid in respect of CE per county in 2022.
There are currently 18,632 participants and 1,225 supervisors on CE. The budget for the CE programme in 2023 is circa €367 million.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
Table 1- Overview of the total paid per county in 2022
|
County |
Total Paid in 2022 |
|
CARLOW |
€6,340,718.04 |
|
CAVAN |
€5,507,372.73 |
|
CLARE |
€6,913,771.94 |
|
CORK |
€28,298,725.44 |
|
DONEGAL |
€18,286,249.35 |
|
DUBLIN |
€66,420,259.20 |
|
GALWAY |
€21,265,871.72 |
|
KERRY |
€16,495,885.35 |
|
KILDARE |
€12,142,745.82 |
|
KILKENNY |
€7,482,514.71 |
|
LAOIS |
€4,829,836.52 |
|
LEITRIM |
€3,280,843.21 |
|
LIMERICK |
€19,224,779.36 |
|
LONGFORD |
€5,257,715.43 |
|
LOUTH |
€11,654,426.31 |
|
MAYO |
€11,356,753.79 |
|
MEATH |
€7,016,987.15 |
|
MONAGHAN |
€6,087,858.02 |
|
OFFALY |
€7,138,987.43 |
|
ROSCOMMON |
€4,578,202.30 |
|
SLIGO |
€6,361,677.83 |
|
TIPPERARY |
€14,650,470.57 |
|
WATERFORD |
€11,106,173.51 |
|
WESTMEATH |
€8,528,643.16 |
|
WEXFORD |
€15,495,480.58 |
|
WICKLOW |
€10,028,507.60 |
|
TOTAL |
€335,751,457.07 |
849. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if a carer's allowance review will be processed for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63373/22]
View answerCarer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care.
It is a condition for receipt of Carers Allowance that the person being cared for must have such disability that they require full-time care and attention. This is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision, and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continual supervision in order to avoid danger to him or herself and likely to require that level of care for at least twelve months.
An application for Carers Allowance was received from the person concerned on 14 September 2022.
The evidence submitted in support of this application was examined and the Deciding Officer (DO) decided that this evidence did not indicate that the requirement for full-time care was satisfied in respect of the care recipient.
The person concerned was notified of this decision on 17 October 2022, the reason for it and of their right of a review and appeal.
The person concerned requested a review of this decision on 7 November 2022 and provided further medical evidence to support their review.
Following this review the decision remained unchanged. The person concerned was notified on 14 December 2022 of the outcome of this review, the reason for it and of their right of appeal.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
850. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection if all sections of all Acts passed in the past ten years have been commenced; the number of sections that are outstanding; the number of Acts that have review periods; if the reviews have taken place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63388/22]
View answerMy Department is responsible for the legislation underpinning the social welfare code, occupational and private pensions, civil registration and gender recognition, and the Citizens Information Board/Comhairle.
Section 7 of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 contains a provision for a review of the operation of the Act. The review was completed and published in November 2019.
Details of uncommenced sections of Acts passed in the past ten years are set out in the table below:
|
Uncommenced Provision
|
Description |
Status |
|
Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2014 |
|
|
|
Section 9 |
Clarifies the provisions contained in Part 6 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act (SWCA) 2005 in relation to entitlement to family income supplement (FIS) in cases where the claimant is living apart from his or her spouse or civil partner and children. |
This amendment is being reviewed in the light of more recent developments in this area and a decision will be taken on its continued necessity following consideration of the Report of the Child Maintenance Review Group. |
|
Section 10 |
Clarifies the provisions contained in Part 6 of the SWCA 2005 relating to the impact of a change of circumstances on continuing entitlement to FIS during the 52 week entitlement period and on the weekly rate of FIS payable during that period. |
This amendment is also being reviewed in the light of more recent developments in this area and a decision will be taken on its continued necessity following consideration of the Report of the Child Maintenance Review Group. |
|
Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 |
|
|
|
Section 6 |
This section amends section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and contains a number of amendments relating to the registration of the father’s name where the parents are not married |
Requires further amendment to section 22 to correct a drafting error. |
|
Section 12 |
Provides that early neonatal deaths are notified to the Superintendent Registrar of the area where the death occurred. |
Requires consultation with the HSE. |
|
Section 21(a) |
Amends section 59B of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (Notification of civil partnerships). |
No longer required. Superseded by the enactment of the Marriage Act 2015. |
|
Section 22 |
Amends section 59C of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (Civil partnership registration form). |
No longer required. Superseded by the enactment of the Marriage Act 2015. |
|
Section 29(c) |
Provides for sharing of information with the Road Safety Authority. |
Pending further clarification of Data Protection issues. |
|
Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 |
||
|
Section 28 |
Amendment of section 58 of Act of 2005 Section 58 of the Act of 2005 is amended, in subsection (2), by the substitution of “Subject to this Act and section 6A of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995, an adopting parent shall be entitled to adoptive benefit” for “Subject to this Act, an adopting parent shall be entitled to adoptive benefit”. |
It is intended that this provision will be commenced in due course. |
|
Civil Registration Act 2019 |
|
|
|
Section 4 |
Amendment of section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 regarding, in certain circumstances, rebuttal of automatic presumption of paternity in the birth registration process. |
Requires commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014, which requires further amendment to section 22 to correct a drafting error. |
|
Section 6 |
Provides for greater involvement by a qualified informant (usually a family member) in the registration of a death by a coroner. |
It is intended to commence this section at the same time as Section 10(1)(c). |
|
Section 10(1)(c) |
Provides that the country of birth and the country of citizenship of a deceased person are to be added to the particulars of a death to be entered in the register of deaths. |
Requires development work to the civil registration computer system in advance of commencement. |
|
Section 11 |
Amendment of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 regarding arrangements for registration of the names of unmarried fathers. |
Requires commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014, which requires further amendment to section 22 to correct a drafting error. |
851. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will urgently address an issue with regard to recent cost-of-living payments, whereby recipients of partial capacity are excluded from the relevant payments. [63398/22]
View answerBudget 2023 has been designed to assist people with cost-of-living increases through a mix of lump sum payments, increases to weekly payment rates and an expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme.
The measures include the provision of a one-off €500 payment to recipients of the Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension and the Carer's Support Grant.
Partial Capacity Benefit has been designed to allow persons on the scheme to continue to receive a percentage of their previous payment while in employment; there are no restrictions on the number of hours a person can work nor on their earnings. A person may be in receipt of a Partial Capacity Benefit payment while in employment for up to three years.
As persons in receipt of Partial Capacity Benefit are in employment without any restriction on earnings, they are not eligible for the €500 payment. However, Partial Capacity recipients received a double payment in October and are also eligible for the Christmas bonus double payment. In addition, from January 2023, the maximum rate of Partial Capacity Benefit will increase by €12 per week, with proportionate increases for people getting a reduced rate and for qualified adults.
852. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason that a person (details supplied) who is in receipt of domiciliary care allowance and the carer’s support grant in respect of their son did not get the carer’s support grant of €500 as part of the recently announced budget supports given that they did receive the disability bonus payment due to their being in receipt of disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63423/22]
View answerIn line with Budget 2023 measures, certain cost of living supports were introduced to assist families, pensioners, persons with disabilities, and carers with the cost of living. These measures, which apply to claimants who are in receipt of a specified qualifying payment, range from an autumn cost of living double (weekly) payment and a once off lump sum where applicable. The autumn cost of living double payment applied to recipients who were in receipt of a specified qualifying payment in October 2022, while the cost-of living lump sum payment (€500.00) applied to persons who were in receipt of a qualifying payment in November 2022.
Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) was a qualifying payment for the autumn cost of living double payment. This double (additional week) payment of €71.20 was issued to DCA recipients along with their October 2022 monthly payment.
DCA was not a qualifying payment for the cost of living lump sum payment (€500.00). Rather, the above cost-of-living bonus payment was payable to recipients of the Carer's Support Grant (where applicable), including DCA recipients who automatically qualify for Carer's Support Grant.
The once-off cost of living lump sum payment €500.00 applied to persons who were in receipt of a specified qualifying payment in November 2022, such as Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension and Carer's Support Grant.
Recipients who are in receipt of one or more of the above scheme payments qualified for one €500.00 bonus payment.
According to the Department's records, the cost of living double (weekly) payment was issued to the person concerned as an additional €71.20 with their October 2022 DCA monthly payment on 18 October 2022.
The cost of living lump sum bonus payment €500.00 was issued to the person concerned on 16 November 2022, with their Disability Allowance (DA) payment.
Accordingly, the above once-off €500.00 cost of living payment was not payable to the person concerned in respect of their DCA and associated Carers Support Grant payment, as the above payment was paid with their DA payment.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
853. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection when arrears will be paid out to a person (details supplied) following a review of their disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63425/22]
View answerDisability allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions,
I can confirm that my department received an application for disability allowance (DA) from the person concerned on 05 October 2022.
The person concerned has been awarded DA and Fuel allowance (FF) with effect from 05 October 2022. This person was notified in writing of these decisions on 23 November 2022. The first payment was made by their chosen payment method on 14 December 2022.
Arrears of payment due from 05 October 2022 to 13 December 2022 issued to her on 14 December 2022 by her chosen payment method. The arrears were less an adjustment applied in respect of an overlapping payment, Basic Supplement Welfare Allowance (BASI) and less an outstanding debt due to the department.
The withholding of arrears against an overpayment without the consent of the person concerned is permitted under statutory instrument No. 142 of 2007, as amended. The person concerned has an outstanding debt of €699.63 due to the department.
A letter notifying the person concerned about the outstanding debt and the proposal to hold arrears of €699.63 issued to her on 14 December 2022.
My department is obliged to recoup any debt due to the department in an appropriate and timely manner and this includes the offsetting of any arrears due, against the debt.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.
854. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection if the living alone allowance is taken into account as means when assessing eligibility for the fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63478/22]
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, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.
In the case of applicants in receipt of the Living Alone Increase (LAI), the Fuel Allowance guidelines indicate that the rate of LAI received is disregarded when assessing means for Fuel Allowance purposes. This ensures that the LAI does not affect a person's entitlement to Fuel Allowance.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
855. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the establishment of a voucher scheme, included in section 9 of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017, that would allow moneys to be provided by the State to facilitate social inclusion of the deaf community through access to activities and non-public services via interpretation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63516/22]
View answerThe Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS) is the national Sign Language Interpreting Service. Established in 2007, SLIS is supported and funded through the Citizens Information Board (CIB). SLIS supports high-quality Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpretation services to ensure Deaf people can access public and social services and take part in Irish society as full and equal citizens.
Section 9 of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 set out a support scheme to allow access to ISL users free interpretation to access events, services, and activities.
As Minister, I supported the CIB and SLIS in launching a pilot voucher scheme for users of Irish Sign Language to access free ISL interpreters for social, cultural and service needs. The pilot ran for a four-month period to the end of October 2021. An evaluation of the pilot was completed in July 2022, which reported that 160 deaf people accessed 272 vouchers. 26% of interpreter assignments were for private medical purposes, 24% for social events, 20% for education and training and 18% for public events and services.
The recommendations from the evaluation report will form part of any future voucher scheme to ensure it meets the needs of the Deaf community in Ireland and meets the obligations under the Irish Sign Language Act 2017. The recommendations are to guarantee equal access to all Deaf users within the society as equal citizens in Ireland. CIB is currently exploring with SLIS the options as to how the Voucher Scheme can be rolled out, using lessons from the pilot.
In the meantime, my Department continues to provide funding to SLIS through its yearly operational grant; an allocation of approximately €459,000 has been provided for in 2023.
