Written Answers Nos. 421-434
421. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has considered extending benefits available to married couples following the loss of a spouse, to couples in long-term relationships but who are not married; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42560/23]
View answerClaimants with cohabiting partners are recognised within the social welfare system as having additional needs in cases where their cohabiting partner is financially dependent upon them. The payment of an Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) in addition to the personal rate of payment reflects these additional household needs.
The IQA is payable in respect of a person who is wholly or mainly maintained by the primary claimant, subject to a means test, regardless of whether the couple are married or not. Where one member of a cohabiting couple claims a means-tested social assistance payment, their partner's income is taken into account in the means test.
As per social welfare legislation the Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory or the Non-Contributory Pension are not payable to surviving cohabiting partners who have not entered into marriage or a civil partnership with the person they were cohabiting with. Entering into a marriage or civil partnership is a legal act, which confers both rights and obligations on both parties that do not exist in law between cohabiting couples.
The legal context governing relationships such as marriage is regulated by the Minister for Justice.
Aside from the wider legal issues regarding the status of marriage and civil partnerships, which is a much broader policy area than its implications for the income support schemes of my Department, extending the current provisions to people who have not undertaken equivalent legal obligations would carry significant cost implications.
422. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to extend the hot school meals programme to special schools; and how many schools would benefit from such an expansion. [42623/23]
View answerThe School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,700 schools and organisations benefitting 300,000 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. In February, the Government approved an additional €14.5m to allow access to the Hot School Meals scheme for all remaining DEIS schools from September 2023.
Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection, I have increased the number of schools with access to the Hot School Meal option from 37 to 1,100. 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, the roll out of the Hot School Meals to all remaining DEIS primary and Special schools began in September 2023, benefiting more than 60,000 children.
An additional 7,403 pupils in 111 special schools were invited to apply for the Hot School Meals from September 2023.
As part of significant plans to extend the Hot School Meals programme, all remaining primary schools were contacted and requested to submit an expression of interest form if their school is interested in commencing the provision of hot school meals. Expressions of interest forms were received from over 900 non DEIS schools in respect of 150,000 children. From 2024, I intend commencing the roll-out of Hot School Meals to all remaining primary schools on a phased basis.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
423. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason that a person (details supplied) is waiting on their back payment for jobseeker’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42626/23]
View answerThe Person Concerned has requested a backdate of Jobseekers Allowance.
In order to make a decision their Deciding Officer has requested a letter from the customers School/College confirming their finish date. This was requested by email on the 28th of September, after two unanswered phone calls to The Person Concerned. As yet no response has been received.
Once this information is received the backdate request can be progressed.
424. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the considerations her Department is currently making as regards the recognition of long-Covid as an occupational illness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42774/23]
View answer429. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Social Protection when she will make a decision on designating long-Covid as an occupational illness for frontline workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42828/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 424 and 429 together.
My Department is aware of the recommendation of the European Commission made in 2022 regarding the prescription of Covid-19 as an occupational illness. However, the decision on whether or not to recognise an illness as an occupational illness is a Member State competence. It should be noted that recognition confers very different entitlements in different countries.
It is important to state that the European Commission has not made a recommendation about recognising long-COVID as an occupational disease and most member states have not recognised long-COVID. The UK Department of Work and Pensions presented a report to the UK parliament in November 2022 which concluded that long-COVID should not be considered an occupational disease due to the lack of evidence and the evolving nature of the illness.
As this matter of recognising Covid-19 as an occupational disease has implications beyond my department, I am in consultation with other relevant departments and Ministers, and the responses received are under consideration.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
425. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the average rate of payment towards funeral costs received through the additional needs payment to date in 2023. [42778/23]
View answerUnder the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department can make additional needs payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. An application can be made under the scheme for assistance with funeral and burial expenses where there is an inability to pay these costs, in part or in full, by the family of the deceased person without causing hardship.
Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme, taking into account the requirements of the legislation, and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.
Statistics are prepared and published on a quarterly basis for Additional Needs Payments.
At the end of June 2023, 1,581 payments were made towards funeral and burials costs at a cost of €4,849,077, giving an average payment amount of approximately €3,100.
The payment amounts, which can have a wide range value, will depend on a person’s weekly household income, their outgoings and the type of assistance needed, therefore an average payment amount may not be representative of the trend in payments.
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to Supplementary Welfare Allowance 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.
426. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on the Amendment of Section 22 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014, specifically in relation to the section dealing with the 'father's name on the birth certificate", as the Act was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas in 2014, however part 2 of the Act: Amendment of section 22 of principal Act, 6. (1), has not commenced. [42779/23]
View answerSection 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 introduces new provisions relating to the registration of the father where the parents are not married to one another. This section sets out that the mother is required to give the father’s details, with limited exceptions, and that the father is then required to acknowledge paternity.
This section requires technical amendments which are being brought forward in the forthcoming Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the bill was undertaken by the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community & Rural Development, and the Islands. A draft of the bill is currently being finalised by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel prior to its publication and presentation to Dáil Éireann and I look forward to bringing the bill to the House shortly.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
427. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection her Department's recommendation to people who are suffering a short-term illness or injury which prevents them from engaging in work but do not have adequate PRSI contributions to qualify for illness benefit; if there is a suitable payment that this cohort can apply for; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42797/23]
View answerIn circumstances where people are ill on a short-term basis but do not qualify for the relevant social insurance schemes, my Department provides means tested supports under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. An additional needs payment is also available to people who have expenses that they cannot pay from their weekly income.
My Department will continue to keep its range of supports under review to ensure that they meet their overall objectives. Any changes to the current system would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context, and in the context of contribution rates and the overall sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
428. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has a policy on the use of artificial intelligence; and if any Departmental functions are assisted by language model-based chatbots (details supplied). [42823/23]
View answerMy Department continues to research the potential use of A.I. technologies in the future. At present, my Department does not use ChatGPT or similar Gen. A.I. technologies. My Department makes limited use of A.I. on the MyGovID platform. This A.I. Chatbot provides the customer with advice in real time on how best to utilise the MyGovID service.
In line with “AI – Here for Good”, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Ireland, the Department remains disposed to evaluating the potential use of A.I. technology in the future in line with related strategies and legislation.
430. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Justice the reason for the recent changes to visa applications for Bolivian nationals; if there are plans to review this decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42117/23]
View answerThe introduction of a visa requirement for Bolivian nationals has brought Ireland into alignment with the visa requirements applying in the UK and in the Schengen area. Bolivian nationals are required to obtain a visa prior to travelling to these jurisdictions.
Section 17 of the Immigration Act 2004 provides that the Minister for Justice may, for the purposes of ensuring the integrity of the immigration system, the maintenance of national security, public order or public health, or the orderly regulation of the labour market, or for the purposes of reciprocal immigration arrangements with other states or the promotion of tourism, by order, introduce requirements in respect of those who are required to be in possession of a visa for the purposes of entry to the State, or those who do not require a visa for that purpose.
In line with this provision, I introduced a visa requirement on Bolivia with effect from 12 September, 2023. As is the practice in these matters, prior consultation was undertaken with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
For those Bolivian nationals who had made plans to travel to Ireland before the visa requirement came into force on 12 September 2023, arrangements are in place to facilitate certain categories of emergency/priority travel (where that travel has been booked and paid for) and these arrangements are set out on the ISD website in the attached link;
www.irishimmigration.ie/update-for-bolivian-visa-customers/
Irish visa requirements are kept under ongoing review, having regard to the need to ensure that effective immigration controls are in place whilst also facilitating those who wish to travel to Ireland for the purposes of a visit, to work, to study or to join family members.
431. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Justice the reason that family reunification visas were refused (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42134/23]
View answerThe visa applications referred to by the Deputy were refused by the Visa Office in Abu Dhabi on 14 February 2023. The reasons for this decision were set out in the refusal letter sent to the applicants at that time. An appeal of this decision was launched on 11 March 2023.
Appeals for applications of this type are processed in the order in which they are received, to be fair to all applicants. While every effort is made to process these applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the volume of appeals received, their complexity, the possible need for the visa office to seek further information in relation to certain appeals and the resources available to process them.
All visa applicants are advised that the onus is on them to provide as much information in support of their application as they feel is necessary. Guidelines in this regard are posted on the Immigration Service website. When making an appeal, the applicant should take into account the reasons for refusal listed in the refusal letter. The appeal should include any further information or additional documentation they wish to have considered, and should be sent for the attention of the Visa Appeals Officer, in the relevant Visa Office, where the matter will be considered afresh.
Full consideration will be given to any appeals received on behalf of the applicants, however the onus is on applicants to satisfy the Visa Officer that visas should be granted. Processing times and decisions at the Overseas Visa Offices can be checked at the webpage for the relevant office.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
432. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if the legislation disregarding historical homosexual offences will be included in the autumn legislative programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42174/23]
View answer449. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice if she will outline, as per the most recent legislative programme, when she intends to bring forward legislation to enact the recommendations of a report (details supplied). [42665/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 432 and 449 together.
The Victorian-era laws which were repealed by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 caused immeasurable harm to generations of gay and bisexual men, criminalising and stigmatizing them simply because of their sexual orientation.
As the Deputy will be aware, I published the final report and recommendations of the Working Group examining the feasibility of a scheme to disregard certain historic convictions related to consensual sexual activity between men in June.
The report contains 95 recommendations regarding the introduction of a statutory scheme to enable the disregard of relevant criminal records. The report also makes a number of recommendations on eligibility standards, the application process that should be followed and the offences to include in the scheme.
The publication of the Working Group’s report marks an important moment in efforts to exonerate those impacted by these outdated laws and address some of the lingering harms of the past.
I am committed to progressing legislation that will provide for the introduction of a statutory scheme once the report’s recommendations have been considered in detail and legal advice sought to ensure that draft provisions are legally and constitutionally sound. My intention is to publish a General Scheme next year.
433. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Justice if she has considered the scoping exercise report on the tragic death of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42176/23]
View answerThe report of Judge Gerard Haughton arising from the scoping exercise into the circumstances surrounding the tragic and untimely death of Shane O’Farrell, aged 23 in August 2011 was published on 3rd July 2023.
Judge Haughton was appointed by Minister Flanagan in 2019 to carry out a scoping exercise in light of the public controversy surrounding the circumstances of Shane's tragic death. Specifically, the purpose of the exercise was to advise the Minister as to whether any further investigation or inquiry beyond those already carried out was necessary and, if so, to advise on the form of such investigation or inquiry and its terms of reference.
Judge Haughton's diligent work has resulted in a thorough and comprehensive 416 page report.
In his report, Judge Haughton has concluded that there are no circumstances surrounding the death of Mr O’Farrell which warrant further investigation or inquiry beyond those already carried out; and further that no inquiry is necessary into the systems and procedures for the sharing of information between An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and other relevant State bodies operating at the time of Shane O'Farrell's death.
Judge Haughton makes a number of important recommendations on suspended sentences legislation; certain aspects in relation to dangerous driving (1961 Road Traffic Act); specific aspects of the law relating to inquests and the role of the Gardaí; and an audit of relevant Courts Service accounts by the Courts Service Audit and Risk Committee (in relation to the Court Service misplacing of Appeal papers).
All of the recommendations made by the Judge have been carefully considered by the relevant state bodies and agencies and implementation of those recommendations has commenced where appropriate.
434. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she will consider establishing a dedicated email contact for local government elected representatives in respect of INIS services. [42193/23]
View answerThe Oireachtas Mail service was established by my Department in response to the volume of requests being submitted via Parliamentary Questions. The purpose of the Oireachtas Mail service is to assist Oireachtas members who have specific immigration application status requests. It is an exclusive service and is designed to help serve the democratic needs of our national parliament.
The Oireachtas mail service is a parallel service to the normal Parliamentary Questions process however it continues to operate when the Oireachtas is in recess. ln the last 12 months Oireachtas Mail received in excess of 6,000 individual immigration queries and the majority of answers were returned within 3 days of receipt.
There are no plans to create a dedicated service for local representatives but many avenues remain open to an applicant, and any 3rd party appropriately authorised to act on their behalf, who wish to seek any update on their application. Queries can be forwarded to the relevant ISD customer service inbox or info@justice.ie. Further details are available on my Departments Immigration services website www.irishimmigration.ie
Furthermore, as part of the modernisation of my Department, the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) has begun to transition from paper-based and labour intensive processes to more efficient, robust and customer-centric immigration services, in line with my Department’s Digital First Policy. One of the customer-focused enhancements ISD is currently developing is the ability for applicants to access real-time online updates on the status of their applications for immigration schemes.
The solution will be a new system implementation which will replace and consolidate existing systems and processes and it is envisaged that self-service channels will be the primary points of contact with an option to escalate queries to call centre staff where necessary. To ensure a cohesive customer journey all contact channels are intended to be centralised to ensure smooth and seamless transitions between the self-service and assisted service stages.
