Written Answers Nos. 881-898
881. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection if she plans to pay the full basic supplementary welfare allowance to asylum seekers who are not in direct provision and if she plans to give asylum-seeking children access to child benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16701/23]
View answerThe provision of material reception conditions, including food and health services, for applicants for International Protection who are awaiting a decision on their application is the responsibility of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS).
My department administers the daily expenses allowance (DEA) which is paid to protection applicants who reside in accommodation provided by IPAS in order to meet incidental, personal expenses. This is also paid to those who are on a waiting list for IPAS accommodation. The current weekly rates of payment are €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child.
DCEDIY is leading the implementation of the commitments contained in the White Paper to End Direct Provision, including the provision of a new income support payment system. This paper was adopted by the Government in February 2021 and my officials will continue to work with colleagues in DCEDIY to support the implementation of change.
In order to qualify for supplementary welfare allowance or child benefit, applicants must satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition. Applicants for International Protection do not satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition while they are waiting for a decision on their application for international protection.
Persons granted refugee status have the right to the same social welfare benefits as an Irish citizen, including access to a basic SWA payment and child benefit.
All Applicants for International Protection are eligible to apply for an additional needs payment under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme to meet essential expenses that they cannot meet from their own resources. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements. Exceptional and urgent needs payments are not subject to the Habitual Residence Condition so can be provided, where needed, to assist those who do not habitually reside in Ireland.
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to a payment under the SWA Scheme is encouraged to contact their local Intreo Centre. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
882. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if the rate of illness benefit for a person (details supplied) can be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16723/23]
View answerThe rate of Illness Benefit payable is based on the applicant’s average weekly earnings from employment during the relevant tax tear. The claim in question commenced in 2022 with the relevant tax year at that time being 2020.
The average weekly earnings of the person concerned in 2020 were between €150.00 and €219.99 and, as such, they qualified for Illness Benefit at the reduced rate of €134.20 per week. The rate in payment was reviewed at the start of 2023 to take account of the new relevant tax year. The average weekly earnings remained below €219.99 meaning the person concerned continued to qualify for a reduced rate of Illness Benefit. Taking account of budgetary increases, the person concerned is currently in receipt of Illness Benefit of €141.90 per week.
If the person concerned is encountering difficulties meeting their basic financial commitments, it is open to them to contact the Community Welfare Service at their local Intreo Centre to see if they might qualify for assistance under the terms of the means-tested Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
883. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary No. 289 of 23 March 2023, assuming a person who is working a full-time job in a four-day week has surpassed the three-day waiting period to qualify for illness benefit, if there are guidelines in place to ensure that any calculations made to the payment of their benefit are on the basis of a four-day working week, rather than a five-day working week (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16766/23]
View answerIllness Benefit is paid over a 6-day working week, and excludes Sundays, regardless of how many days or which days a person works. In the scenario outlined in the question, the individual will receive Illness Benefit at a rate of €220 for week one and €220 for week two. In week three, the individual is certified as unable to work for two out of six working days and will, accordingly, be paid €73.33, or one third of the weekly rate.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
884. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision is expected on a disability allowance application (details supplied). [16777/23]
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 22 December 2022. The processing time for individual DA claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity in terms of the three main qualifying criteria, the person’s circumstances and the information the person provides in support of their claim.
A letter, requesting further information not included with her original application, was sent to the person concerned on 11 January 2023, to enable a Deciding Officer to consider her eligibility for DA. The person concerned notified the Department on 7 March 2023 that the requested information was furnished by her on 20 January 2023. However, she informed the Department they would resend the requested information.
I can confirm that DA section received the requested information on 8 March 2023. A further information request letter was sent to the person concerned on 14 March 2023 to supply additional supporting documentation and allowed 21 days for the return of the information. I can confirm that the requested information was received by DA section on 21 March 2023.
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 27 March 2023, and they were given the right to a review or an appeal.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
885. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if a reply will issue to correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16791/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
886. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a reply to a letter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16792/23]
View answerEmployment services for people with disabilities are currently provided by 23 EmployAbility service providers across the State on behalf on my Department. My officials are preparing a procurement process to update current EmployAbility service contracts in order to comply with legal advice from the Attorney General and Chief State Solicitor’s Office and to meet the Department’s objective of shifting emphasis from financial monitoring of Service Providers to focusing on service quality for clients.
It is not the intention of this procurement to significantly change the nature of the services currently provided to clients, reflecting the overall effectiveness of the current service. Independent reviews undertaken of the service provision found that they were broadly satisfactory.
The proposed new EmployAbility contract model aims to enhance the autonomy of the service providers giving them control over financial and staffing decisions to enable them to more effectively provide a high-quality employment service for people with disabilities.
Stakeholder engagement is a key aspect of this procurement and my officials have met with each EmployAbility service provider in recent months to discuss the planned procurement process. This engagement will continue until the publication of the request for tender, planned for later this year.
It is in everyone’s interests that my Department continues to provide a quality employment service for people with disabilities and they will continue to work with all stakeholders on the best way to achieve this while ensuring contracts are legally compliant.
The 23 EmployAbility Service Providers currently employ approximately 165 staff, of whom some 122 are job coaches. The service has an active caseload nationally at any one time of about 3,000 clients (or an equivalent turnover of circa 2,000 clients per year). In 2023, the total contract value of the 23 EmployAbility service providers is €10.9 million.
A response has issued in respect of the matters raised in the correspondence to which the Deputy refers.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
887. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has informed GPs not to issue medical certs for those individuals seeking such certificates for social welfare reasons. [16821/23]
View answerOne of the conditions for receipt of Illness Benefit is the provision of appropriate medical evidence. The acceptable form of medical evidence is a Certificate of Incapacity which can either be submitted electronically by a GP to the Department by way of an e-certificate or, if this is not possible, a paper certificate known as a MED1 may be provided by a GP to their patient.
No instruction has issued from my Department to deviate from this practice. My Department provides dedicated support to any GP experiencing difficulty with the submission of medical certificates. This support service can be contacted by either phoning (01) 6732350 or emailing gpqueries@welfare.ie
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
888. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Social Protection to conduct a review of the implementation of the hot school meals programme to ensure it is receiving optimum uptake from students and schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16841/23]
View answer891. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide the recent RSM Ireland review of the free school meals programme with the rapid rise in the cost of electricity, fuel and food; her plans to increase the maximum rate of payment per child per day for the free school meals programme from the current rates of breakfast/snack €0.60, lunch €1.40, dinner €1.90 and hot meal €2.90 to enable schools to source suppliers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16863/23]
View answer895. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection the checks that are in place and the ongoing monitoring to ensure that there is a high quality and a proper nutritional value in the food in all meals which are supplied through the free school meals programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16937/23]
View answer917. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection whether vegetarian and vegan options are available for children under the free school meals programme, and if not, whether she agrees that they should be made available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17286/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 888, 891, 895 and 917 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 2023 provided €94.4 million for the programme. The Government recently approved an additional €14.5m to allow access to the Hot School Meals scheme for all remaining DEIS schools from September 2023.
On 30th March, I published an independent evaluation of the School Meals Programme which sets out the positive impact the Programme is having in terms of children’s education and wellbeing. This evaluation is evidence-based and sets out a series of recommendations for expanding the School Meals Programme into the future. There is an overwhelming consensus among all participants in the evaluation that the school Meals Programme is effective and indicates strong support for extending the School Meals Programme.
The report also recommends an interim increase in funding rates for all meal options in the School Meals Programme. In response, I have secured government approval for the following rate increases for the various meal options provided on the School Meals Programme effective from 1st January 2023:
• Breakfast - increase from €0.60 to €0.75 (15c increase).
• Cold Lunch - increase from €1.40 to €1.70 (30c increase).
• Dinner - increase from €1.90 to €2.50 (60c increase).
• Hot School Meal - increase from €2.90 to €3.20 (30c increase).
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. 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.
Each school is required to provide a menu choice of at least two different meals per day and where required, provide a vegetarian/vegan option and an option that caters for students’ religious and cultural dietary requirements.
The uptake and interest by schools in the hot school meals programme is immense with almost 500 schools benefitting from the hot school meals programme today, compared to 30 schools when I was appointed Minister for Social Protection in June 2020.
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 remaining DEIS primary and Special schools from September 2023, benefiting more than 60,000 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 from 2024.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
889. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection when the Social Welfare Appeals Office will make a decision on a domiciliary care allowance appeal (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16853/23]
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 an appeal by the person concerned was registered on 7th December 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 in the Appeals Office on 30th March 2023 and the case was referred to an Appeals Officer on the 5th April 2023, 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.
890. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection further to a previous Parliamentary Question, if she will provide an update on an application for a State pension (contributory) in the name of a person (details supplied); and if her Department has had any response from the Netherlands regarding their pension contributions there; and there is a timeframe agreed between countries for the resolution of such issues. [16856/23]
View answerThe person concerned reached pension age on 3 May 2022. The application for State Pension (Contributory) was received on 11 October 2022.
Under current eligibility conditions, an individual must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to qualify for standard State pension (contributory). As the person concerned does not have the minimum of 520 full rate paid Irish contributions, they do not qualify for an Irish state pension (contributory) based on their Irish contribution history alone.
Since the person concerned resided in the Netherlands, their pension entitlement to a pro-rata State Pension (Contributory) is under investigation, based on a combination of their Irish insurance record with their insurance record in the Netherlands.
Officials in my Department have been in contact with the Dutch pension authority who advised that they require further information from the person concerned before they can forward the Dutch record to my Department. If the person concerned provides the requested information to the Dutch pension authority, officials in my Department can progress their State Pension (contributory) application. Upon receipt of the insurance record from the Dutch pension authorities, the pension entitlement of the person concerned will be reviewed, and they will be notified of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
892. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue in relation to an appeal submitted by a person (details supplied) in June 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16896/23]
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 Department issued a decision to the person concerned in relation to her Carer's Allowance on 23rd May 2022. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal of this decision was received in that office on 16th June 2022.
On receiving information from the person concerned, the Department reviewed the decision of 23rd May 2022 and issued a new decision on 14th June 2022. The grounds for the appeal no longer subsisted and the appeal was withdrawn. The revised decision of 14th June 2022 has yet to be appealed by the person concerned and the Social Welfare Appeals have contacted her regarding this matter.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
893. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection when an update and/or decision will issue on the parent benefit appeal by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16899/23]
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 an appeal by the person concerned was received in that office on 4th October 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 in the Appeals Office on 12th April 2023 and the case was referred to an Appeals Officer on the 13th April 2023 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.
894. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of WTE staff by grade working in the special investigations unit of her Department as of 30 March 2023; and if she will provide same figures as of 1 January 2021, in tabular form [16935/23]
View answerSpecial Investigation Unit FTE Staff
|
Grade |
at 30/03/2023 |
at 01/01/2021 |
|
Principal Officer |
1.00 |
1.00 |
|
Assistant Principal Officer |
7.00 |
7.00 |
|
Higher Executive Officer |
56.00 |
57.60 |
|
Executive Officer |
40.00 |
40.00 |
|
Clerical Officer |
4.00 |
3.00 |
|
Total |
108.00 |
108.60 |
896. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department recognises a disability employment service (details supplied) as 23 separate companies, and how this will impact on tendering processes for the services it currently offers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16948/23]
View answer897. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection what supports and capacity building funding is available to assist not-for profit organisations currently providing services funded by her Department that will be required to tender to receive this funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16949/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 896 and 897 together.
Employment services for people with disabilities are currently provided by 23 EmployAbility service providers across the State on behalf of my Department.
My officials are preparing a procurement process to update current EmployAbility service contracts in order to comply with legal advice from the Chief State Solicitor’s Office and to meet the Department’s objective of shifting emphasis from financial monitoring of service providers to focusing on service quality for clients.
It is not the intention of this procurement to significantly change the nature of the services currently provided to clients, reflecting the overall effectiveness of the current service. Independent reviews undertaken of the service provision found that they were broadly satisfactory.
The proposed new EmployAbility model aims to enhance the autonomy of the service providers giving them control over financial and staffing decisions to enable them to more effectively provide a high-quality employment service for people with disabilities.
Stakeholder engagement is a key aspect of this procurement and my officials have met with each EmployAbility service provider in recent months to discuss the planned procurement process. This engagement will continue until the publication of the request for tender, planned for later this year.
It is in everyone’s interests that my Department continues to provide a quality employment service for people with disabilities and they will continue to work with all stakeholders on the best way to achieve this while ensuring contracts are legally compliant.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
898. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the work her Department has done on extending free travel eligibility to persons who suffer with epilepsy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16966/23]
View answerThe Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.
It is important to note that, in general, access to a free travel pass for those aged under 66 is a secondary benefit linked to a person being in receipt of certain primary Social Protection payments such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit. As many illnesses or physical conditions have an impact ranging from mild to severe, entitlement to these social welfare schemes is not provided on the basis of a diagnosis but on the basis of the impact of that diagnosis on the individual concerned and in the case of Disability and Carer's allowance to an assessment of their means. In this way, resources can be targeted to people in most need.
I am aware of an ongoing campaign by Epilepsy Ireland. I fully recognise the issues and difficulties that can arise due to a person being diagnosed with epilepsy and who is unable to drive as a result of their condition.
I have met with representatives of Epilepsy Ireland to discuss its proposal in detail and following the meeting I asked my Department officials to examine the issues raised in relation to access to the Free Travel scheme.
My officials advise me that they are currently finalising the report and I expect to receive it shortly. Thereafter, I will carefully consider its contents and any recommendations that it may contain.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
