Written Answers Nos. 141-155
143. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection if she intends on changing the medical criteria for receipt of invalidity pension to align it with the medical criteria for disability allowance; the reason that these criteria are different at present; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15135/23]
View answerMy Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to illness or disability. Our two main long-term disability payments are Disability Allowance and Invalidity Pension.
Disability Allowance is a means-tested social assistance scheme. The medical criterion for Disability Allowance is that the person's disability must be expected to last for at least one year, and the disability must substantially restrict a person’s ability to work. Over 157,000 people were on Disability Allowance in January 2023.
Invalidity Pension is a social insurance scheme. Eligibility is based on PRSI contributions and medical condition. In order to qualify, the person must have been incapable of work for at least 12 months and be likely to be incapable of work for at least another 12 months; or must be permanently incapable of work. Over 56,000 people were on Invalidity Pension in January 2023.
Officials in my Department are working on a Strawman on disability reform in accordance with a commitment under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion (2020 – 2025). The Strawman will provide proposals on the restructuring of these long-term disability payments. I expect to publish it for consultation in Q2.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
144. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the nature, extent and frequency of meetings and talks between her Department and its British counterparts in the past 12 months; if issues such as the delays in providing pension contribution information were discussed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15099/23]
View answerAs a part of my visit to London to celebrate St Patrick's day, I held bilateral meetings with my counterparts namely the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Minister for Employment. We spoke about the positive collaboration between the Department of Work and Pensions and the Department of Social Protection on social security matters. In particular, we discussed the work being done to protect the social security rights of citizens in the UK and Ireland post Brexit.
The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss common issues faced in regard to the labour force and the cost of living crisis, supporting people with disabilities back into to employment, pension policy and hot school meals programme. It was a valuable opportunity to share learning and successes.
In addition, officials from my Department are in regular contact with their counterparts in the UK on a range of matters to ensure that the social security rights of citizens in Ireland and the UK are maintained post Brexit.
Under the social security arrangements between Ireland and the United Kingdom, the respective authorities exchange social insurance record details electronically for pension entitlement assessment purposes.While many records are received within a short period of time, others may take a prolonged period, due to incomplete information and the complexities of identifying older records.
While officials in the State Pension (contributory) area do not hold formal meetings with the UK authorities, they contact the UK authorities on individual cases if any delays are experienced. This is to ensure applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
If the Deputy has details of a specific case where it appears there may have been a delay in processing, the information should be provided to the State Pension (contributory) area in my Department for review.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
146. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will clarify the last occasion when there was an increase in the energy part of the household benefit package; if she has any plans to raise this allowance in light of the ongoing energy crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15163/23]
View answerThe Household Benefits Package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. My Department will spend approximately €285 million this year on HHB for over 508,000 customers.
People over the age of 70 receive the HHB package, with one package provided per household. The package is also available to people living in the State aged 66-69 years who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments or who satisfy a means test. The package is available to some people under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments.
There has been no recent increase to the gas/electricity element of the HHB since the gas/electricity element was changed from a unit-based allowance to a monthly cash allowance in January 2013. The Department instead has targeted the limited resources available to it at increases to core Social Welfare payments and also to more targeted payments such as the Fuel Allowance payment.
Any decision to enhance the HHB package would have cost implications and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.
The Government is very aware of the increased cost of living and, in Budget 2023, has provided an unprecedented response that aims to ease the financial pressure on households throughout the State.
As part of the Government's cost of living measures in Budget 2023, an Autumn Cost of Living Double Payment was paid to Social Protection recipients in October.
In November, a €200 Lump Sum Payment was paid to pensioners and people with a disability receiving the Living Alone Allowance, a €500 Cost of Living Payment was paid to people receiving Carer’s Support Grant and a €500 Cost of Living lump sum was paid to people in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension and Blind Pension. A €400 additional Lump Sum payment was also paid to all households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance Payment. A double month of Child Benefit was paid and a €500 lump sum payment was made to people in receipt of Working Family Payment.
In December, a Christmas Bonus Double Payment was paid to 1.3 million Social Protection recipients including pensioners, carers and people with disabilities.
From January 2023, the maximum rate of core Social Welfare rates was increased. There were proportionate increases for qualified adults and for people getting a reduced rate. The weekly full rate for a qualified child increased to €42 for children under 12 years of age and to €50 for children aged 12 years and over.
Also, from January 2023, a new Fuel Allowance means threshold was introduced for people aged 70 years and over. The new means threshold is €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. Under the formula used to assess means for the Fuel Allowance for over 70s, the threshold for capital that is disregarded in the assessment was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. The weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 was increased by €80 to €200 above the appropriate rate of State Pension (Contributory). Similarly, the allowable means for HHB purposes for those aged between 66-69 not in receipt of a qualifying payment was also increased by €80 to €200 above the appropriate rate of State Pension (Contributory).
The enhanced electricity credit of €600 is another important Government measure announced in the Budget. This benefitted all households.
In addition to the €2.2 billion of supports in Budget 2023 and underlining the government’s continued commitment to address the increased cost of living being experienced by people, an additional €410 million social welfare package will be paid to families, pensioners, carers and people with disabilities in April.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
147. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department will consider targeted measures, such as a social energy tariff, rather than universal payments in its future consumer protection and poverty reduction strategies. [15178/23]
View answer149. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are plans to improve the processing times for disability allowance applications; the target timeline for decisions to be made in these applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15098/23]
View answerMy Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.
The processing target for the Disability Allowance (DA) scheme is to award 75% of applications within 10 weeks. The average number of weeks to award a DA claim in February 2023 was 10 weeks. My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently.
In setting the targets, consideration is taken of the complexity of the schemes and the processes that are necessary to determine eligibility. As a result, the processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria.
Schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from a person, particularly in the case of illness-related schemes, can take longer to process. Similarly, means-tested payments can also require more detailed investigations and interaction with the person applying for the payment, thereby lengthening the decision-making process.
It is also the case that in order to register a claim and establish?an early entitlement, some people may submit an application form without first securing all of the necessary supporting documentation.? While this ensures that people will be paid, along with arrears, from an earlier date, this adds to the average processing times.
I wish to reassure the Deputy that claim processing is kept under active review, with all possible steps taken to improve processing times. This includes the assignment of additional resources, where available, and the review of business processes, to ensure the efficient processing of applications.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
150. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of businesses that availed of the disability awareness support scheme in 2022; if there are plans to increase awareness of this scheme in the coming year to support the employment of people with disabilities in the labour force; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14926/23]
View answerThe Disability Awareness Support Scheme provides a contribution towards the cost of disability awareness training for private sector employers. Employers can claim 90% of the eligible training costs in the first year, and 80% in subsequent years.
Three businesses received the grant in 2022 and the value of the grants issued was €14,531. It is important to note that the grant is demand-led, and so the number and value of the grants provided is linked to the number of applications received.
My Department promotes the grants through its Intreo service and employer engagement activities. In 2022, my Department held 668 events where supports including the Disability Awareness Support Scheme were promoted. There are plans to build on this in 2023. The scheme is also promoted through contracted public employment service providers such as Employability and by the ‘Employers for Change’ service. ‘Employers for Change’ is funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and aims to deliver a national employer disability information service.
I would like to see a better take-up of this grant and so have asked my Department to review the scheme tis year to see how it might be made more effective.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
151. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on progress to reform the stillbirth registration process. [14886/23]
View answerRegistration of stillbirths by parents in Ireland is voluntary. Currently, the birth of a stillborn child may be registered where the child has a gestational age of 24 weeks or more or weighs 500 grammes or more.
Recommendations from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive are that, in line with current clinical practice, the criteria for a stillborn child should be reduced to 23 weeks with a corresponding reduction in weight to 400 grammes.
Changes to the current legislative provisions to give effect to these recommendations will be included in a forthcoming Bill to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004 which I am currently bringing to Government. If the proposals are approved, they will then be sent to the Oireachtas for pre-legislative scrutiny.
I am also proposing that legislative changes are made to enable broader access to the Stillbirth Register. Currently, only the parents of a child recorded in the register or an tArd-Chláraitheoir or a member of his or her staff can search the register. As a matter of practice, the General Register Office facilitate access to the register where the parents are unable to do so or are deceased. The proposed amendments will enable a broader range of staff in the civil registration service to search the Stillbirth Register and to provide certificates or copies of the records to parents or relatives of the child recorded in the register.
These are important changes which I hope will help families who have experienced the trauma and sadness of the loss of a stillborn child.
I hope that this is of assistance to the Deputy.
152. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will extend the school meals programme to all schools by 2023; and if she will ensure that these meals are of a high standard and offer both hot and cold school meals. [14163/23]
View answerThe 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 2023 has provided €94.4 million for the programme. The Government has recently approved an additional €14.5m to allow access to the Hot School Meals scheme for all remaining DEIS schools from September 2023.
Funding under the school meals scheme 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. These meals must meet the nutritional standards for the school meals programme. The Nutritional Standards for School Meals were developed by a working group led by the Health and Wellbeing Programme in the Department of Health, in consultation with Safefood and the Healthy Eating and Active Living Programme in the Health Service Executive.
I am committed to continuing to expand the school meals programme and building further on the significant extension of the programme that has taken place in recent years. In this regard, I intend to roll out the Hot School Meals to all DEIS primary and special schools from September 2023, benefiting 64,500 children. I will also bring forward proposals in the coming weeks on commencing the roll out of the Hot School Meals to non-DEIS primary schools.
In addition, the final report from the evaluation of the school meals programme was recently received and is currently being reviewed. This report will help to inform future decisions around this important programme.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
153. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will report on the requirement for those who apply for an exceptional needs' payment for kitchen items, such as fridges and ovens, to hire with expense, an engineer in order that an engineer’s report can be submitted with the application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8954/23]
View answerUnder 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 a case by case basis, taking into account the age of the item and the immediate need or urgency of the applicant.
If a CWO considers that a technical report is needed, the applicant can apply for a separate Additional Needs Payment 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 for the Deputy.
154. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications that are now outstanding on the over-70s fuel allowance applications received; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15190/23]
View answerFuel Allowance is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards heating costs and is paid over the winter season at the weekly rate of €33.00 or, if preferred, by way of two instalments. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.
While we had made some improvements to the scheme in previous Budgets, it was a key priority of mine, and of the Government, to expand the reach of the Fuel Allowance payment this year. In Budget 2023, a more generous means test was introduced for those aged over 70, with a higher means threshold of €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. Applicants aged over 70 no longer need to be receiving a qualifying social protection payment and the threshold for the capital disregard increased from €20,000 to €50,000. For those aged under 70, the means threshold was increased by 80 euro and is now 200 euro above the appropriate rate of State Pension Contributory for the household.
In the state pensions area, where the budget measures were of greatest benefit to those aged 70 and over, some 45,700 applications for Fuel Allowance were received in 2022. This represents a 144% increase over the number received in 2021.
32,500 additional households have been awarded Fuel Allowance since the Budget. Of these, over 24,000 are aged 70 or over.
As at the week ending 19 March 2023, I am pleased to say that there were less than 1,300 claims from those aged over 70 awaiting decision and only 300 under age 70 waiting to be processed. These remaining claims will be processed in the coming weeks. Where an application for fuel allowance is awarded, it will be backdated as appropriate and there will be no loss in payment to the qualified households concerned.
As the 2022/23 fuel allowance season is still open to applications, I would encourage anyone who thinks they may be eligible to make an application as soon as they can. They can do this online at MyWelfare.ie or they can get an application form at any Intreo Centre or Branch Office of my Department, or at any Citizen Information Centre or post office.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
155. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection if she intends on increasing the maximum period a person may receive jobseeker’s benefit from nine months to a year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15134/23]
View answerJobseeker's Benefit is a payment for people between 18 and 66 years of age who become fully or partly unemployed and have paid enough pay-related social insurance (PRSI) contributions. A person must be unemployed for at least 4 in 7 consecutive days to be eligible for the payment and they must satisfy the other qualifying scheme conditions.
The duration of payment for Jobseeker’s Benefit is 9 months (234 days) for people with 260 or more PRSI contributions paid. It is paid for 6 months (156 days) for people with fewer than 260 PRSI contributions paid.
It is a fundamental feature of a range of the Department's benefit payments, including Jobseeker’s Benefit, that the payment is time-limited. Time limits apply across a range of PRSI-related schemes such as maternity benefit and illness benefit.
I recently held a consultation process on a strawman proposal for pay-related jobseeker's benefit, which would see a higher rate up payment - up to €450 per week - paid over a six month period. My department is currently analysing the responses to the consultation, which address a wide range of issues including the duration of the payment. The consultation responses will help to inform future proposals in this area.
Where a person exhausts their entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit, they may be eligible for support under the means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme. The Department contacts the Jobseeker's Benefit recipient in advance of the expiry date of their claim to advise them that their entitlement is due to expire and that they should make an application for Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Jobseeker’s Allowance has unlimited duration as long as a person meets the qualifying scheme conditions including the means test.
In addition, the means tested Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme, and other financial supplements are also available through the Community Welfare Service at the local Intreo Centre for any person who is experiencing financial hardship. On that basis I do not intend to amend the duration of Jobseeker's Benefit at this time.
I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
