Written Answers Nos. 694-714
694. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the guardians payment for 2021 and 2022, in tabular form; the cost to increase the payment to €400; to outline any outreach being done to alert families who are caring for children and young people and are not in receipt of any payment;; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47202/23]
View answerThe Guardian's Payment provides income support in respect of children whose parents are unable to provide for them, through death or other circumstances.
Guardians Payment is currently paid in respect of 2,163 children at the weekly rate of €203. As a result of the measures announced in Budget 2024, the rate of Guardians payment will increase by €12 to €215.00 per week, with effect from January 2024.
Based on the current rate of payment and numbers, an increase in the payment to €400 per week is estimated to cost in the region of €22.2m per annum.
The number of Guardians Payments for 2021 and 2022 are outlined in the table below:
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Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory) 2021 2022 |
|
|
Recipients 578 594 |
|
|
Qualified Children 760 758 |
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Guardian's Payment (Contributory) 2021 2022 |
|
|
Recipients 1,177 1,192 |
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Qualified Children 1,391 1,405 |
Information in relation to Guardian’s Payment is available on www.Gov.ie and www.citizeninformation.ie. The Department administers over 90 separate schemes and services which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. The Department is committed to ensuring that members of the public are fully aware of the welfare supports and services that are available to them.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
695. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection to review the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47247/23]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was received in that Office on 05 October 2023 and registered on 24 October 2023. 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. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if necessary, hold an oral appeal hearing.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
696. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Social Protection the current status of the invalidity pension application for a person (details supplied); when they can expect to receive a decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47260/23]
View answerThe Department received an application for invalidity pension (IP) from the person concerned on 25 April 2023. Upon examination of this application, he was refused IP on the grounds that the medical conditions for the scheme were not satisfied. He was notified on 22 June 2023 of this decision, the reasons for it and of his right of review and/or appeal.
The person in question requested a review of this decision on 5 July 2023 and submitted further medical evidence in support of his request. Following a review of all the information available, it was decided that there was no grounds to amend the earlier decision. He was notified on 8 August 2023 of the outcome of this review and of his right to appeal the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) within 21 days.
The person concerned appealed the decision on 15 August 2023 to the SWAO and submitted further medical evidence in support of his appeal. Following a review of all this additional information, it was decided that there was still no change to the original decision. Therefore, his file and a submission on behalf of the Deciding Officer were forwarded to the SWAO on 22 September 2023 for determination by an Appeals Officer. The SWAO will be in touch with the person concerned directly in due course in relation to the outcome of this IP appeal.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
697. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Social Protection the current average waiting time and longest waiting time for social welfare claims, and separately, for claim appeals; the steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog of appeals of social welfare claims and the waiting times; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47261/23]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision-making functions.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that significant efforts and resources have been devoted to improvements in the appeal process in recent years. As a result, average appeal processing times have generally improved between 2018 and 2022 from 30.0 weeks for an oral hearing in 2018 to 26.0 weeks in 2022, and from 24.8 weeks for a summary decision in 2018 to 15.0 weeks in 2022. The average time for all appeals finalised in 2022 was 14.9 weeks.
The current processing times for appeals from 1st January 2023 to the 31st October 2023 are 29.5 weeks for an oral hearing and 17.5 weeks for a summary decision.
The desire to process appeals quickly has to be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and of high quality and made in accordance with the legislative provisions and the general principles of fair procedures and natural justice.
All claim decisions taken by the Department’s Deciding Officers and Designated Persons are appealable to the Chief Appeals Officer. In any year about 85% of all claims are awarded by the Department and approximately 1% of all decisions are appealed. The Department endeavours to ensure that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible. There is active engagement between the Appeals Office and the Department to ensure that the appeals process operates efficiently and that where the Deciding Officer's decision is not revised in favour of the appellant that the appeal file papers are provided as quickly as possible to the Appeals Office for consideration by an Appeals Officer.
Further improvements in appeals processing times are a priority for the Chief Appeals Officer. An Appeals Modernisation Project is in progress to develop and implement a new appeals business process, including a new IT system. The overall aim is an enhanced and responsive appeals service for appellants. The first stage of the new appeals system will be in operation by November 2023.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
698. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if contributions will be allocated to farmers who were in receipt of farm assist between the years 1999 and 2025, in view of the requirement for contributions to qualify for the State pension (contributory) and the impact that a break in their contributions may have on eligibility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47267/23]
View answer734. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 121 of 25 October 2023, if flexibility will be provided to those farmers who were in receipt of farm assist between 1999 and 2007 and who now have gaps in their contributions and do not qualify for the State pension (contributory) given those farmers who have now reached pension age may be unable to make voluntary contributions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47912/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 698 and 734 together.
Currently, PRSI-credited contributions or credits are awarded to former employees only, to cover gaps in social insurance where they are not in a position to pay PRSI contributions, such as during periods of unemployment or illness. Self-employed workers do not qualify for credits as one social insurance payment per annum provides the full 52 contributions for that year. The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low-income farmers. It replaced the former smallholder's unemployment assistance payment, in line with the then arrangement for unemployment assistance, including the smallholder's unemployment assistance and the pre-retirement allowance. The non-welfare income of farm assist payment recipients was exempt from the payment of class S PRSI for self-employed workers. Recipients of the farm assist payment who had previously paid class S social insurance contributions had the option of making voluntary contributions to maintain their social insurance record, provided they satisfied the qualifying conditions to do so. Since 1 January 2007, the exemption from class S PRSI has been removed and those self-employed persons receiving jobseeker's allowance or the farm assist payment are subject to class S PRSI as self-employed contributors on their self-employed income, provided their annual income is €5,000 or more. Any self-employed person, including farmers, with an annual income of less than €5,000 can make voluntary contributions to maintain his or her social insurance record for pension purposes, once qualified to do so.
Recipients of Farm Assist have, and always had, the option of paying Voluntary Contributions, subject to satisfying the qualifying conditions to do so. In the period 1999 to 2006, the paid contribution requirement for entitlement to avail of the Voluntary Contributions scheme was a minimum of 260 weeks PRSI contributions in either employment or self-employment.
While a person must have paid at least 520 weeks PRSI contributions and apply within 60 months of the end of the contribution year in which they last paid PRSI contributions to qualify to become a voluntary contributor, in exceptional circumstances, this rule may be relaxed where a person can demonstrate that an application was not feasible within the time limit.
An application to become a voluntary contributor submitted by a Farm Assist recipient who was exempted from making PRSI contributions over the period from 1999 to 2006, can be examined on a case by case basis, under the relevant provisions.
In the absence of exact numbers of farm assist recipients with annual income in excess of the income threshold for paying class S PRSI prior to 2007 (i.e. €3,174 pa), it is not possible to estimate the numbers of persons affected.
A person aged 66 or over with insufficient PRSI contributions to qualify for a full State contributory pension may claim a State non-contributory pension if he or she has an income need. The maximum weekly personal rate is €254, which is more than 95% of the maximum State contributory pension rate. While it is means-tested, there are very significant disregards to the benefit of claimants and a significant majority of such pensioners are paid at the full rate.
I hope this clarifies these matters for the Deputy.
699. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of farmers who have been in receipt of farm assist in each of the years 1999 to 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47268/23]
View answerFarm Assist is a statutory income support specifically for farmers on low incomes. There are approximately 4,100 claims in payment at present. The Government has provided €49.4 million for the scheme in 2023. Farm Assist was introduced in April 1999 and replaced Smallholders Unemployment Assistance.
The Department publishes the number of customers in receipt of Farm Assist as part of its Annual Statistics Report. These reports are available on the Department's website. The number of recipients of Farm Assist for each of the years 1999 to 2022 and to date in 2023 is as follows:
|
Year |
Recipient Numbers |
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1999 |
7,874 |
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2000 |
8,051 |
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2001 |
8,380 |
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2002 |
8,514 |
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2003 |
8,707 |
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2004 |
8,350 |
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2005 |
7,824 |
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2006 |
7,840 |
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2007 |
7,376 |
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2008 |
7,496 |
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2009 |
8,972 |
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2010 |
10,714 |
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2011 |
11,246 |
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2012 |
11,029 |
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2013 |
10,303 |
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2014 |
9,809 |
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2015 |
8,790 |
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2016 |
7,828 |
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2017 |
7,234 |
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2018 |
6,535 |
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2019 |
5,971 |
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2020 |
5,511 |
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2021 |
5,004 |
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2022 |
4,501 |
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2023 (as of end-September) |
4,081 |
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
700. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of jobseekers' claiming the lower rate of jobseekers’ allowance for those aged under 25 years. [47279/23]
View answerJobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment made to people who are unemployed. Persons aged 18-24 may be eligible for the full personal rate (€220.00) or reduced personal rate (€129.70) depending on their individual circumstances. A full personal rate is payable when participating in an approved training or education course, or when living independently and receiving housing support such as Rent Supplement. The amount received will be less if there are assessed means.
There are currently 11,483 recipients aged 18 to 24 claiming the lower rate of Jobseekers’ Allowance for those aged under 25 years.
701. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of people currently in receipt of a disability payment, by disability category in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47283/23]
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 can confirm that, at the end of September 2023 there are approximately 161,000 individuals supported through Disability Allowance. Statistics are not available on DA recipients categorised by individual disabilities. Therefore, my Department is not in a position to supply the information in the manner sought.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
702. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has undertaken research on the barriers people on disability payments face with finding and entering employment and the supports they need to overcome these barriers. [47284/23]
View answerMy Department provides a range of income and employment supports to people with disabilities. These supports remain under review by my Department, as we look to national and international best practice to improve them.
As part of our commitments under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy, my Department carried out a review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and Disability Awareness Support Scheme.
The Reasonable Accommodation Fund includes four grants which were designed to assist jobseekers and existing employees with disabilities, and to encourage employers in the private sector to recruit Jobseekers with disabilities.
The Disability Awareness Support Scheme provides funding for private sector employers to arrange and pay for disability awareness training for staff who work with a colleague with a disability.
My Department undertook a policy review of the grants comprising of a literature and expenditure review, an international comparison, and a comprehensive public consultation, which received strong stakeholder engagement.
The review was published in August 2023. It recommends combining the grants, simplifying the application process, and extending eligibility and funding. Under Budget 2023, I allocated an additional €1 million to expand the scheme and implement these recommendations. The new, single scheme is expected to launch in early 2024.
My Department is also reviewing the Wage Subsidy Scheme, as part of our commitments under the Programme for Government to fine-tune and expand the scheme. The Wage Subsidy Scheme offers financial incentives to private sector employers to employ people with disabilities.
My Department is currently undertaking extensive research to deliver a focused policy review of this scheme, including a four-week public consultation in June 2023. I expect to receive the completed report early in 2024.
Budget 2024 provided for the minimum weekly hours threshold for employers to avail of the Wage Subsidy Scheme to be reduced from 21 to 15 hours per week which takes effect from April 2024.
The Green Paper on Disability Reform is my Department’s response to our commitment under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion to develop and consult on proposals to restructure long-term disability payments and to simplify the system.
The Green Paper is a consultation document we developed to start a structured discussion with disabled people and stakeholder groups on what the future of long-term disability payments and employment supports could look like. It is not a final reform design. The consultation is open until the 15th December and I encourage all disabled people and their representative groups to give us their feedback on the proposals in the Green Paper.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
703. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection how much weight is given to the person's own account of the impact of their condition on their capacity to work in the medical assessment for disability payments. [47285/23]
View answerThe Medical Assessors of my department take into consideration all available information submitted in support of the application;
• Medical report from the treating Doctor(s), which details the diagnosis, results of any tests or investigations, treatment outcomes & complications if any.The medical report also outlines the limitations experienced by the customer and the prognosis.
• A self-reported questionnaire completed by the customer, facilitating them to provide detailed information regarding:
• Their medical and social history.
• Educational and Vocational history.
• Current physical and mental health & how it impacts on activities of daily living, work related activities and general day to day functioning.
• Customers are encouraged to submit where available any additional reports from health care providers involved in their care, these may include medical specialists, but also, for example, psychologist or physical therapist.
In forming opinion, the medical assessor gives careful consideration to all information submitted and exercises clinical judgement in assessing whether customer meets qualifying criteria for the disability benefit scheme.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
704. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures she and her Department are taking to improve the employment supports available to people with disabilities. [47286/23]
View answerThe Department of Social Protection, through its nationwide network of Intreo centres, provides a case managed employment service for jobseekers with disabilities. The person works with an Employment Personal Advisor with a view to agreeing a suitable personal progression plan in order to access the full range of employment supports available.
The Department recognises the additional challenges that some people with disabilities may experience in securing and maintaining employment, and contracts specialist employment services, called EmployAbility, to help address this. A jobseeker with a disability who is working with their Intreo Employment Personal Advisor may be referred to these service providers if it is agreed that they would benefit from the type of services and support provided. Under EmployAbility the person works with a job coach who provides both pre-employment and in-employment support and assistance. Providers also deliver a recruitment and job matching service for employers.
In July 2022 Intreo commenced an Early Engagement process targeted at young recipients of a disability payment. Early engagement involves the Public Employment Service actively engaging with people with disabilities at the earliest opportunity, on a voluntary basis, to offer the above supports to assist them in achieving their employment ambitions. They are initially focusing on 18–25-year-olds, with further tranches to follow.
In August I announced a call for applications for a new programme to support the employment of people with disabilities under the new ESF+ funding. This programme, called WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme is a successor to the Ability programme. WorkAbility has an overall budget of up to €36.29million and will run from January 2024 to December 2028.
The programme is aimed at people with disabilities aged 16+ who are in the labour market or are currently not work ready and/or are distant from the labour market. The programme will support projects that provide progressive pathways into education, training and employment (including self-employment) for participants based on their needs, their abilities and their potential. The programme aims to support up to 5,000 disabled people progress their employment ambitions over its lifetime.
Both Disability Allowance and Blind Pension are structured to support recipients to avail of work opportunities, be that self-employment or insurable employment. When an individual commences employment, they can avail of an income disregard of €165 per week and above that a tapering applies. A person can earn up to €495.10 per week and still retain some of their payment. The earnings disregard for recipients of Disability Allowance has increased by almost 38% over the last three budgets from €120 to €140 to €165 currently.
The Partial Capacity Benefit scheme allows a person who has been in receipt of Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit and who may not have full capacity for work, to enter or return to employment and continue to receive a partial or full payment. The Partial Capacity Benefit has been designed so there are no restrictions or limits on earnings from employment nor on the number of hours a person can work under the scheme.
The Reasonable Accommodation Fund grants support jobseekers and existing employees with disabilities, as well as private sector employers seeking to hire or retain a person with a disability.
I recently published a review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and another scheme called the Disability Awareness Support Scheme. The review made a number of recommendations including that they be amalgamated into a single flexible scheme and that the scheme is expanded to the community and voluntary sector. Work on implementation of these recommendations is underway and it is hoped to launch a reformed scheme in Q1 2024.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a support to encourage private sector employers to employ people with disabilities by means of a subsidy. The subsidy available is between €6.30 and €9.45 per hour depending on the number of employees supported by the scheme. Budget 2024 provided for the minimum weekly hours threshold for employers to avail of the Wage Subsidy Scheme to be reduced from 21 to 15 hours per week which takes effect from April 2024.
As part of the Green Paper on Disability Reform, employment supports for disabled people will continue to be kept under review.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
705. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if those who receive a half-rate Increase for a qualified child payment will get the full €100 bonus announced in Budget 2024; if not, how the €100 bonus will be paid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47304/23]
View answerIn response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, I secured a package of €2.3 billion for Social Protection measures as part of Budget 2024. This represents the largest Budget package for the Department of Social Protection in the history of the State and will help to support our pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and families during this difficult period.
As part of Budget 2024, I announced a number of once off payments to assist families. This included a €100 for each child in respect of whom an Increase for a Qualified Child is in payment regardless if it is paid at half or full rate.
I trust this clarifies the matter for Deputy.
706. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection to detail any ongoing or previous use of artificial intelligence within her Department. [47343/23]
View answerAt present, my Department makes very limited use of generative AI. An A.I. Chatbot (on the MyGovID platform) is being used at present. This Chatbot provides the customer with advice in real time on how best to use 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.
707. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection to confirm that a person (details supplied) will be awarded the full rate of disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47384/23]
View answerI can confirm that the Department received an application for Disability Allowance (DA) from the person concerned on 22 August 2023. The person concerned was awarded DA with effect from 23 August 2023. At that time, the person was assessed with weekly means of €104.17 resulting in a DA payment rate of €144.50. The first payment was made by their chosen payment method on 25 October 2023.
My Department received correspondence from the person concerned on 24 October 2023, notifying a change of circumstances regarding his DA.
Following a review, based on the information provided to my department, it was found that the person concerned had a decrease in his means and his rate of DA increased with effect from the 25 October 2023. They were assessed with nil weekly means resulting in a DA payment rate of €277.50. Arrears of payment due will issue as soon as possible, once any necessary adjustment is calculated and applied in respect of any overlapping payments.
The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 25 October 2023.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
708. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection the entitlements for an Irish citizen who has been living and working in the USA for a number of years and wishes to return home to Ireland on a full-time basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47408/23]
View answerA person's social protection entitlements on coming to live in Ireland depends on the person's individual circumstances, including their age, and contribution history. For example, if they have a recent contribution history in Ireland, they may qualify for a contribution based benefit based on their Irish record.
Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement with the United States of America (USA). The main purpose of the bilateral agreements on social security is to protect the pension rights of persons who have paid social insurance contributions in Ireland and have reckonable periods in the other country. If the person has paid contributions both in USA and in Ireland the combined record may be taken into account for certain benefits.
If a person does not have an entitlement to a contribution based payment but is habitually resident in Ireland, and meets all other scheme conditionally, they may have an entitlement to a social assistance scheme.
A person living in Ireland may also qualify for benefits such as Free Travel and Household Benefits subject to satisfying the qualifying conditions.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
709. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if precautions are in place to ensure that a person who decides to decline a payment to an applicant is not the person who conducts the appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47409/23]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of my Department which is independent in its decision making functions.
When an appeal is received in the appeals office it is registered and as required by regulations, the appeals office then notifies the department that the appeal has been lodged.
That notification requires that any file or documents relevant to the appeal is forwarded to the appeals office and seeks a submission from the Deciding Officer on the extent to which the facts advanced by the appellant are admitted or disputed.
At this point in the process, the department reviews the original decision to decide whether it should be revised in favour of the appellant.
Where the decision is not revised by the department, the file with the appeal submission is returned to the appeals office and added to the files awaiting assignment to an Appeals Officer.
The Appeals Officer will consider the evidence presented and decide and record the appeal decisions. The appellant will be notified of the outcome of the appeal and the file will be returned to the department for implementation of the decision.
An Appeal is not considered by a Deciding Officer.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.
710. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection if she is aware of an issue (details supplied); if she will ask her officials to review the situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47430/23]
View answerAn application for state pension non-contributory was received from the person concerned on 15 June 2023. On 21 June 2023, the case was referred to a Social Welfare Inspector to investigate the means of the person concerned, so that their entitlement to pension could be assessed.
The person concerned has been awarded the maximum weekly rate of state pension (non-contributory) with effect from 16 June 2023 and was notified, in writing, of this decision on 26 October 2023. Payment of the arrears due will issue shortly.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
711. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Social Protection if the Government has any plans to recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease for frontline health care workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47434/23]
View answerThe 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.
My Department is aware of the recommendation that 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.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
712. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Social Protection the consideration being given to the recommendations of the Tax Strategy Group's paper in relation to pay related social insurance, in particular their proposal to eliminate the lower employer social insurance rate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47443/23]
View answerThe Tax Strategy Group (TSG) is chaired by the Department of Finance and comprises of senior officials from a number of Government Departments. It is not a decision making body and the papers produced by Departments are simply a list of options and issues to be considered in the Budgetary process. My Department's 2024 Paper on Pay Related Social Insurance examined, in the main, options to address the "step effect" impact on employee and employer PRSI.
In Budget 2024 the Government decided to increase all PRSI rates (employer and employee) by 0.1% from 1 October 2024 to address the long term sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund. The matter of addressing the employer "step effect" will be kept under consideration.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
713. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) has an entitlement to a payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47477/23]
View answerIllness Benefit is a payment for people who cannot work due to illness and who satisfy the pay related social insurance contribution conditions. Illness Benefit is paid for a maximum of two years and is classified as a short-term scheme.
The Spring 2023 cost of living bonus was payable to people in receipt of certain long term social welfare payments. For customers in receipt of Illness Benefit, it was only payable if a person had been receiving this payment for at least one year. Time spent on other social welfare schemes such as Jobseeker's Allowance prior to a person claiming Illness Benefit did not count towards this entitlement.
The person concerned began claiming Illness Benefit from the 4th January 2023. They did not qualify for the Spring 2023 Cost of living bonus payment as they had not been in receipt of Illness Benefit for at least one year when the bonus was paid in the week commencing 24th April 2023.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
714. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will intervene to ensure a fuel allowance payment is awarded to a person (details supplied). [47520/23]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks from September 2023 to April 2024. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. One allowance is paid per household.
Qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance are those payments that are considered long term payments and an applicant must also satisfy a means test.
The person concerned is in receipt of Illness Benefit. Illness Benefit is a short-term payment for those who are certified by their GP as needing to take time out from their employment due to illness and, accordingly, is not a qualifying payment for Fuel Allowance.
The person concerned is one of a number of people who were in receipt of Illness Benefit prior to 5th January 2009 and, as an exceptional measure, were allowed to remain on Illness Benefit on a continuous duration basis. While the person concerned has been in receipt of Illness Benefit for a number of years, this scheme is still not an eligible scheme for fuel allowance.
People who are permanently incapable of work may be eligible for the non-means tested Invalidity Pension, subject to satisfying the relevant social insurance and medical criteria. Those who are substantially restricted in undertaking suitable employment arising from a medical condition may be eligible for the means-tested Disability Allowance, subject to meeting the relevant medical criteria. Recipients of both of these payments, subject to satisfying all qualifying conditions, may be eligible for Fuel Allowance.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Exceptional Needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost, which customers are unable to meet out of their resources, and this may include exceptional heating costs. Decisions on such cases are made on a case by case basis.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
