Tuesday, 28 Mar 2023

Written Answers Nos. 466-481

Register of Electors

Questions (466, 470)

Bríd Smith

Question:

466. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will acknowledge the importance of encouraging young people to participate in the democratic process by becoming a registered voter; if she is aware of some of the difficulties young people have in trying to become a registered voter for the first time (details supplied); if there are plans to streamline the process to make it more accessible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15262/23]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

470. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection if she is aware how difficult it is to obtain a MyGovID account; and her plans to address this (details supplied) [15286/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 466 and 470 together.

A person is not required to have a Public Services Card (PSC) before they can be added to the Register of Electors and any issues regarding difficulties a person may experience in being added to the Register are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

MyGovID is the secure online identity authentication service provided by my Department. Once a person has authenticated their identity by way of SAFE registration and been issued with a PSC, they can set up a verified MyGovID account.

A verified MyGovID account can be used to access the online services provided by a number of public bodies. This provides assurance to the public body concerned as to the identity of the person they are dealing with online, helps to protect that person against the implications of online identity theft, and helps ensure that their data protection rights are protected. Currently, there are 1.957 million verified MyGovID accounts, an increase of 593,000 in the period since 1 January 2022.

Dublin City Council provides an online service on Voter.ie on behalf of the other Dublin local authorities which allows people living in those local authority areas add themselves to the Register, change their address, edit their electoral details and remove themselves from the Register.

In order to access this service a person needs to have a verified MyGovID account. Anyone who does not have a verified MyGovID account can apply to be added to the Register or change their details by downloading the appropriate application form from Voter.ie and submitting it to the appropriate local authority.

My Department continues to experience a high level of demand for PSCs. Since the beginning of this year, almost 93,000 SAFE registrations and PSC renewals have been completed nationally. In 2022, almost 346,000 SAFE registration and PSC renewals were carried out by my Department. If the Deputies provide me with details of the person concerned, I will arrange for the circumstances of the application to be reviewed and a PSC processed promptly.I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.

Social Welfare Payments

Questions (467)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

467. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the rate of social welfare payments currently being paid to a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15266/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

State pension non-contributory is a means-tested payment for people aged 66 and over, legally and habitually residing in the State, who do not qualify for a state pension contributory, or who only qualify for a reduced rate contributory pension based on their social insurance record. For the purposes of the means test, at application stage and through the lifetime of a claim, an applicant must provide full and up to date details of any income(s), assets, savings and investments held and notify the Department of any relevant changes that may affect their rate of entitlement.

The state pension non-contributory entitlement of the person concerned has been recently reviewed. They will continue to receive pension at €264 weekly, which is the maximum payment rate for a claimant aged 80 or over, together with a fuel allowance of €33 per week during the winter fuel season.

A notification of this decision issued to the person concerned on 23 March 2023.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Payments

Questions (468)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

468. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the rate of carer’s allowance payment currently being paid to a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15267/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Carer'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 can confirm that the person concerned is currently in receipt of the full weekly rate of €236 of CA for a carer under 66 years of age plus an increase for one qualified child of €50 per week.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

State Pensions

Questions (469)

Robert Troy

Question:

469. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will clarify entitlement to a State pension (non-contributory) for a person (details supplied); if this person should have received any of the cost-of-living supports which were put in place over the winter months; and if this person will be moved to an Irish pension during the course of 2023 following an agreement with the UK pensions service. [15285/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

In Budget 2023, the Department introduced social protection measures designed to assist people in receipt of certain qualifying social protection payments with cost-of-living increases. These measures included lump sum payments, increases to weekly payment rates and an expansion of the fuel allowance scheme. As the person concerned is not in receipt of a qualifying payment, they do not qualify for these cost of living support payments.

State pension contributory is payable, from age 66, to applicants who satisfy certain eligibility conditions based on the number of social insurance contributions (paid and credited) they hold over their working life. In certain cases, where an applicant has had periods of insurable employment both in Ireland and in another EU member state or a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, they may have an entitlement to a pro-rata state pension contributory.

State pension non-contributory is a means-tested payment for people aged 66 and over, legally and habitually residing in the State, who do not qualify for a state pension contributory, or who only qualify for a reduced rate contributory pension based on their social insurance record.

According to the records of the Department, the person concerned has not applied for either of the above state pensions. In order to establish the person’s entitlement to an Irish state pension, it is necessary for them to complete and submit the appropriate SPC1 and/or SPNC1 application forms (which are available to download from the Governments website gov.ie ).

To assist the person concerned, these applications have been issued together with a fuel allowance application form, should they wish to make application. On receipt of completed pension application(s), the person's eligibility will be examined and they will be notified of the outcome.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Question No. 470 answered with Question No. 466.

Social Welfare Code

Questions (471)

Maurice Quinlivan

Question:

471. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason for asking persons completing an exceptional needs payment application to submit an engineer’s report at their own expense, considering those applying for the payment do so as they cannot afford the item required, such as a fridge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15288/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching 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 the customer’s own resources, and which are deemed to be necessary.

The schemes are demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.

In general, where ANP applications are made for assistance with the repair or replacement of kitchen appliances and as officers are not qualified in assessing the technicalities and mechanisms of kitchen appliances, a technical expert report may be required in some cases in support of these applications. The need for a customer to provide a report is made by a CWO on an individual case basis, taking into account the age of the item and the immediate need or urgency of the applicant.

If the CWO considers that a technical report is needed, the applicant can apply for a separate ANP to meet the cost of the report, and a payment can be made to the customer in advance of the report being completed.

Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment 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.

I trust this clarifies the matter.

Redundancy Payments

Questions (472)

Maurice Quinlivan

Question:

472. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the case of a person (details supplied) who, following ten years of uninterrupted service, was made redundant and has been deemed ineligible for statutory redundancy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15299/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, provides for the making of payments by employers to employees in respect of redundancy.

It is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments to all eligible employees. In the event that an employer is unable to pay due to financial difficulties, an application for payment from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) may be submitted to the Department of Social Protection (DSP).

I can confirm that an application for the person concerned was submitted to my Department under the Redundancy Payment Scheme by the receiver. This application was processed, and a decision was made not to award the application, as it did not meet all the qualifying criteria under the provisions of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, namely that this individual was not working in the State for at least two years prior to his employment terminating.

A subsequent review of this original decision was also undertaken by my department on request from the person concerned. That review upheld the original decision not to award the application.

This was communicated directly to the person concerned and the correspondence also provided relevant information on the next available steps, should they choose to take the matter further.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (473)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

473. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied); if the case will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15309/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The person concerned applied for Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) on the 9 January 2023.

Partial Capacity Benefit is a social welfare scheme which allows the claimant to return to work or self-employment (if the have reduced capacity to work) and continue to receive a payment from my department. The rules governing PCB are that a person must be in receipt of payment of Illness Benefit or Invalidity Pension on the day immediately before the application for PCB is made.

In the case of Illness Benefit, the person must also be in receipt of Illness Benefit for 6 months priorto making the application. Where this occurs, PCB will then remain payable for the duration of an underlying Illness Benefit entitlement that remains.

On 10 January 2023 the person concerned was disallowed PCB as they had no current underlying entitlement to Illness Benefit. Their Illness Benefit claim had stopped on the 3 January 2023 as their entitlement had exhausted, prior to their application for PCB.

The person concerned appealed this decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) and their file was submitted to that office on the 2 March 2023. We await the Appeal Officers decision and will implement as soon as it is received.

I trust this clarifies for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (474)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

474. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on a working family payment application by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15311/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Working 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 one qualified child who normally resides with them.

An application for WFP was received from the person concerned on 16th October 2022. The application was examined by a deciding officer and further information was requested from the person concerned. Upon receipt of this information, the WFP application was reviewed by a deciding officer on 23rd March 2023 and awarded at a rate of €118.00 per week from 20th October 2022 to 18th October 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.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (475)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

475. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Kerry would be eligible for a casual jobseeker’s top-up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15322/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Person Concerned has not made an application for a Jobseekers payment. If unemployed the Person Concerned should make an application either by way of MyWelfare.ie or by paper application which they can obtain through their Local Intreo Office.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (476)

Seán Haughey

Question:

476. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Social Protection if a claimant (details supplied) can have their disability benefit restored given that their partner has returned to work and is no longer receiving their own disability benefit payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15334/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Disability 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.

My Department received correspondence from the person concerned on 24 February 2023, notifying a change of circumstances regarding his DA. I can confirm that, following a review of their circumstances, the person concerned has had their payment restored.

The first payment at the new rate will be made by the person's chosen payment method on 29 March 2023. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 24 March 2023.

Arrears of payment due, resulting from a change in circumstances, will issue as soon as possible once any necessary adjustment is calculated and applied in respect of any overlapping payments (if applicable).

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Appeals

Questions (477)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

477. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection to what extent oral hearings in respect of appeals against disallowance for various payments are up to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15441/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

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 am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there are currently 7,558 appeals at various stages of the appeals process. Under Article 13 of the Social Welfare (Appeals) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. 108/1998), if an Appeals Officer is of the opinion that the case is of such a nature that it can be properly determined without a hearing, the appeal may be determined summarily. Once it is decided to hold an oral hearing it can usually be scheduled and held in a timely manner.

An oral hearing may be held online, by phone or, where it is deemed essential by the Appeals Officer, on an in-person basis.

Oral hearing arrangements will continue to be kept under regular review by the Chief Appeals Officer.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (478)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

478. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for domiciliary care allowance received by her Department in the past twelve months; the number of applications granted and refused in the same period; the number of decisions appealed and subsequently overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15442/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continuous or continual care and attention in the home, substantially in excess of that required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care for at least 12 months.

The following table sets out the number of DCA applications that were received, awarded and disallowed, including the number of decisions that were appealed and subsequently overturned on appeal in the past 12 months (year 2022).

Year	Applications received during year	Applications Allowed during year	Applications Disallowed during year	Decisions Appealed during year	Appeals Allowed during year
2022	10,524	7,872	3,948	2,084	1,458

The relevant statistics in respect of year 2023 to date are not yet available.

In some cases, more than one decision may be made where a customer provides further information and / or seeks a review of a decision, i.e. a customer's application can be disallowed and then subsequently allowed on review. Applicants are advised to provide as much detail as possible at application stage, including any additional information or documentary evidence that is relevant, medical or otherwise, to ensure that all information is available to the department for the decision and assessment process.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (479, 480, 482, 483)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

479. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for the invalidity pension received by her Department in the past twelve months; the number of applications granted and refused in the same period; the number of decisions appealed and subsequently overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15443/23]

Bernard Durkan

Question:

480. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for disability allowance received by her Department in the past twelve months; the number of applications granted and refused in the same period; the number of decisions appealed and subsequently overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15444/23]

Bernard Durkan

Question:

482. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for the State pension (contributory) received by her Department in the past twelve months; the number of applications granted and refused in the same period; the number of decisions appealed and subsequently overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15446/23]

Bernard Durkan

Question:

483. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for the State pension (non-contributory) received by her Department in the past twelve months; the number of applications granted and refused in the same period; the number of decisions appealed and subsequently overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15447/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 479, 480, 482 and 483 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is available in the table below. These figures refer to the period March 2022 to February 2023. The appeals overturned figure refers to those allowed/partially allowed by an Appeals Officer or by way of a revised decision by a Deciding Officer.

Table 1: Claims registered, claims awarded, claims rejected, appeals received and appeals overturned, by scheme.

Scheme	Claims Registered	Claims Awarded	Claims Rejected	Appeals Received	Appeals Overturned
State Pension (non-contributory)	13,259	12,038	2,749	313	127
State Pension (Contributory)	42,233	18,972	11,812	703	179
Disability Allowance	26,803	14,222	15,031	5,343	3,005
Invalidity Pension	8,977	5,951	4,550	1,644	907

Question No. 480 answered with Question No. 479.

State Pensions

Questions (481)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

481. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the possible cost of introducing prorate pensions for those who have made pension contributions but an insufficient amount to qualify for a pension in a single year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15445/23]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

There are a number of payments and pensions paid by my Department to people over State Pension Age. One of these is the State Pension Contributory (SPC). This scheme's entry criteria require applicants to have at least 520 social insurance contributions paid from either employment or self-employment. For those who have paid the required contributions, these will be used in the calculation of their entitlements.

As the actuarial value of the State Pension is currently estimated at approximately €380,000, I believe it is reasonable to require people claiming a contributory pension to have made at least 10 years of paid contributions over the term of their working life, before qualifying for a payment.

My Department does not have complete data in respect of the information requested by the Deputy, e.g., the Department does not have records on those aged 66 or over who do not apply for a contributory pension, and so it is not possible to provide the costs sought.

Where a person reaches State Pension age and does not satisfy the conditions to qualify for a SPC or qualifies for less than the maximum rate, they may instead qualify for one of the following:

- The means-tested State Pension (Non-Contributory) (SPNC) which is a means-tested payment (based on their share of household means) with a maximum payment of 95% of the SPC; or

- An increase for a qualified adult (based on their own means), amounting up to 90% of a full rate SPC pension where their spouse has a contributory pension; or

- Where their spouse/civil partner is deceased, a widow's/widower's/civil partner's contributory pension, which they may claim either based on their spouse's or their own social insurance record. The qualifying conditions for this require fewer contributions paid (260) than the SPC and the current maximum personal rate for those aged 66 or over is €265.30, i.e. the same as the maximum rate of the SPC, with allowances (notably the Living Alone Allowance) payable where applicable.

Where contributors enter insurable employment, either as employees or self-employed, after they have attained the age of 56 and have no entitlement to the SPC or SPNC, then the pension element of the contributions paid by both employed and self-employed contributors may be refunded.

In September, I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State Pension system in response to the recommendations from the Pensions Commission. The set of measures represent the biggest ever structural reform of the Irish State Pension system.

Among the measures agreed is the introduction of a system to allow people to choose to defer access to the State Pension (Contributory) up to age 70 and receive a cost neutral actuarial increase in their State Pension payment. This system also provides for a person to continue to pay social insurance contributions past State Pension age to improve their social insurance record for State Pension (Contributory) purposes. These PRSI contributions may enable individuals without a full contribution record (and who have deferred access to the State Pension) to become entitled to the State Pension (Contributory), or increase the pension rate of payment, as a consequence of the additional paid contributions. People will still be able to retire at 66 and draw-down their pension in the same way as they can today. These measures will become effective from January 2024.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.