Written Answers - Social Welfare Benefits.
Liz McManus
Ceist:
32
Ms McManus
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
if his attention has been drawn to the recent report from the National Rehabilitation Board which suggested that most people with disabilities had to rely on help from relatives and friends to get by and more than one third have to borrow to meet every day costs; the steps, if any, he will take to improve the level of disability benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6303/98]
The recent report published by the National Rehabilitation Board, "Costs of Disability Study — 2", is a useful addition to the limited research available in relation to the income position of people with disabilities. Its findings reflect the main conclusions of the ESRI's study on poverty in the 1990s, which found that, even before their special needs are taken into account, people with disabilities face a high risk of poverty.
However, caution should be taken in drawing generalised conclusions from the NRB study. This is the second report published by the NRB based on a study undertaken in 1993-4 on the living standards and lifestyles of a small number of people with disabilities — 59. Those selected for participation in the study were identified by the NRB as having a below average financial position. In addition, the study only looks at the income position of the individual with a disability and does not take account of the overall household income position.
The Government is committed to overhauling the means by which the State supports the incomes of people with disabilities. In this regard, I am pleased to let the Deputy know that the Government has fulfilled one of the main recommendations of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities in relation to income support, namely, that the rates of payment recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare (CSW) should be achieved as a matter of priority. As a result of the improvements provided for in this year's budget, all payments to people with disabilities will be above the rates recommended by the CSW, ranging between 101 per cent to 118 per cent.
The NRB study highlights the fact that low employment rates lead to higher levels of poverty and social exclusion among people with disabilities. In this regard, significant progress has been made by my Department in recent years in relation to the employment and educational supports being provided for people with disabilities.
For example, the back to work allowance scheme, under which unemployed people can take up employment and continue to retain a portion of their social welfare payment and the related secondary benefits has been extended to people with disabilities. This measure complements the existing employment supports which are available through the NRB and which are of particular importance to people with disabilities in gaining access to the open labour market.
However, it is accepted that many people with disabilities are not in a position to engage in such employment. Accordingly, additional measures have been taken to facilitate these people so that they can engage in other forms of employment and training, such as sheltered or rehabilitative employment. In this regard, the 1998 budget provided for a significant increase, from £36.30 to £50, in the amount of earnings from rehabilitative employment which can be disregarded for means test purposes in the case of the disability allowance and blind person's pension schemes.
The 1998 budget also provides for an extension of the back to education programme to people with disabilities. Under this programme, people with disabilities will be entitled to an allowance of £150 towards the cost of books and related expenses from September.
The study also found that many people with disabilities encountered additional costs which were specifically associated with their disabilities. The NRB has accordingly, called for the introduction of a £30 per week costs of disability payment.
One of the principal recommendations of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities is for the introduction of a costs of disability payment. In this regard, the commission recommended that the Department of Health and Children should introduce a variable costs of disability payment, which would meet the costs incurred where services are not or cannot be provided. This recommendation is currently being examined by the interdepartmental task force, which is preparing the Government's plan of action in response to the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities.
The introduction of a £30 a week costs of disability payment on the lines porposed by the NRB would have substantial cost implications, costing, aproximately, £150 million in a year.
Proinsias De Rossa
Ceist:
33
Proinsias De Rossa
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
his views on the differential between the rates of benefit or assistance paid to beneficiaries and to qualified adults; the attempts, if any, he has made to reduce the differential; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6305/98]
The Commission on Social Welfare argued that two people living together, especially couples, are financially interdependent as all of the main living costs such as housing, fuel and household goods are shared and there are economies of scale involved. In this regard, the commission recommended that the rates of payment for adult dependants (now qualified adults) should be set at 60 per cent of the basic payment for a single person.
The CSW's approach in relation to the payment rates for qualified adults has, in general, been adopted by successive Governments and it is also the one which I have followed in this year's budget. The increased qualified adult allowance rates, which will be payable from the beginning of June, will range between 56 per cent to 69 per cent of the respective personal rates, with the majority of rates at 58.4 per cent.
The Deputy will be aware that the emphasis in relation to rates increases in recent years has been to concentrate resources on moving towards the minimum personal rate recommended by the CSW. The increases being provided in this year's budget will mean that the personal rates of payment for 94 per cent of social welfare recipients will be above the CSW recommended rates.
However, the appropriateness of the 1.6 equivalence scale, as recommended by the CSW, has been questioned by a number of commentators. The expert group on the integration of the tax and social welfare systems, in examining this issue, recommended that further research should be carried out on this matter.
In this regard, the interdepartmental working group, which is currently examining the treatment of one and two-parent families under the tax and social welfare codes, is looking at the existence of the concept of "qualified adult" in the social welfare payment system, with particular reference to individualisation of payments. One of the group's specific terms of reference is to carry out research on equivalence scales. The ESRI has been commissioned by the group to undertake this research and it is expected that its findings will be available in the coming months.
The working group will be reporting to me later in the year and I expect that their report will be of considerable assistance in formulating future policy in this difficult area.
Bernard J. Durkan
Ceist:
34
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
whether, in the case of a widow's pension where the qualified applicant is under 66 years of age and not in a position to obtain employment, he will introduce a special pension supplement which would have the effect of giving financial recognition to these circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6346/98]
Providing a special pension supplement for certain categories of widows, and I presume widowers, as suggested by the Deputy, would have cost implications and therefore could only be considered in a budgetary context. The Deputy's proposal might also raise equity issues as, for example, certain widows or widowers who are not in employment could have other income sources, for example, an occupational pension while others would not.
I would also point out that recipients of widow's and widower's pension may also receive half rate unemployment benefit or disability benefit in addition to widow's or widower's pension, for a maximum period of 390 days if they meet the conditions for these payments.
Breeda Moynihan-Cronin
Ceist:
36
Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
the number of people who have now exhausted their entitlements to the back to work allowance; if any of these people have returned to the live register; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6356/98]
The back to work allowance was introduced in September 1993 as an encouragement to long-term unemployed people to return to the active labour force. Since then, over 33,600 people who were previously long-term unemployed, or lone parents, have availed of the allowance to, take up new jobs as either employees or self employed persons. Of that number, approximately 3,350 people have completed the full three year cycle of support provided by the back to work allowance.
A detailed consultant's evaluation of the back to work allowance was published by me late last year. This report forecast a success rate of 60 per cent for self-employed participants and 39 per cent for employed participants.
The indications from experience of the scheme to date are that it is a very worthwhile scheme in terms of enabling people who are long-term unemployed to make the break into employment or self-employment which is sustainable. A preliminary survey conducted last year of those who had completed the three year cycle found that 85 per cent were still off the live register six months after the allowance ceased. A further evaluation of the scheme with particular reference to those who did and did not complete the three year cycle is planned for later this year.
