Written Answers - Social Welfare Benefits.
Dick Spring
Ceist:
85
Mr. Spring
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
if he will urge the Government to introduce a programme, perhaps over five years, of ending discrimination by his Department against women in home duties, particularly in relation to dependant allowances and community employment opportunities.
[2604/99]
The social welfare system has been built up over many years with new benefits and allowances added to meet different needs and contingencies which have arisen from time to time and which, in some cases, reflect the changing nature of our society. The qualifying conditions and payments for the individual schemes are designed to reflect the perceived needs of each target group.
Women who have withdrawn from the labour force and who are engaged on home duties are provided for in the social welfare system through the payment of qualified adult allowances where their spouses or partners are in receipt of a social welfare payment. Such allowances are payable under nearly all the schemes operated by my Department. The qualified adult allowance is paid at about 60 per cent of the full personal rate, which is in line with the recommendations of the Commission on Social Welfare, 1986, and is designed to reflect the fact that it is considered that there are economies of scale where two people are living together. This is the traditional way in which couples are provided for under social welfare systems in many countries.
Measures are being taken to improve the position of those who take time out from the workforce to mind children. From 6 April 1994, special arrangements for homemakers were introduced to help people who work in the home to qualify for old age contributory pension. From that date, contribution years spent out of the workforce caring either for children up to the age of 6, which was increased to age 12 from April 1995, or incapacitated people, may be disregarded when calculating the yearly average number of contributions. A maximum of 20 years can be disregarded in this way. I would also point out that my Department shortly will be undertaking a review of the provision to allow women who take time out for family reasons to continue contributions for pension purposes. This is in line with the Government's commitment in An Action Programme for the Millennium.
In relation to retirement and old age contributory pensions, each of a couple may qualify for payment in his or her own right, depending on the social insurance record. In this context, the number fo women qualifying for these pensions in their own right is likely to increase, reflecting the increase in the number of women paying social insurance as a result of the number of women who are now entering-re-entering the workforce and the operation of the homemaker's provisions. In relation to the non-contributory old age pension, each person of a couple is entitled to a separate pension where he/she is over 66 years of age. Where both persons are over pension age, each will receive the same level of pension in his/her own right.
The Commission on the Family has also considered the position of parents taking time out of the workforce to care for children and put forward a number of different suggestions designed to recognise the valuable work performed by these parents and to provide direct support when their childcare responsibilities are at their most demanding. Their suggestions include enhanced child benefit, a parenting allowance and a PRSI based parental leave scheme.
The validity of the traditional method of catering for adult dependants in the social welfare code has been called into question in recent years. It is felt in many quarters that entitlements should not be derived from spouses or partners and that there should be more financial recognition for the very valuable role played in society by those who, for example, choose to withdraw from the paid workforce to provide full-time care for their children. This poses many difficult and com plex issues, not just for the social welfare system, but also for the taxation system.
An interdepartmental group, chaired by my Department, is currently examining the treatment of different types of households under both the social welfare and tax systems. The group is, among other things, charged with identifying and costing ways of ensuring consistent and equitable treatment of different types of households including married, co-habiting and one-parent households under both systems. As part of its work the group is reviewing previous reports in this area, including that of the Commission on the Family, some of whose recommendations I have already mentioned. The establishment of this group also marks the first stage in meeting the commitment in the national anti-poverty strategy to examine the individualisation of social welfare payments. The group will complete its work in the next few months and we must await the report to see what measures are proposed before deciding on further action.
With regard to the community employment schemes I am anxious to see as many people and categories of welfare recipients as possible participating on such schemes and progressing from them to paid employment. However, the qualifying conditions for community employment are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
P. J. Sheehan
Ceist:
86
Mr. Sheehan
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
the reason old age pensioners aged 75 years and over do not qualify for the national winter fuel scheme in view of the fact they qualify for free electricity and free telephone rental; and the steps, if any, he will take to correct this anomaly.
[2460/99]
Free schemes are available to people, usually aged 66 or over, who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are either living alone, or who otherwise satisfy the living alone condition. In addition, widows and widowers between the age of 60 and 65 whose late spouses had entitlement to the free schemes retain that entitlement notwithstanding their age.
A change in the qualifying conditions for the free schemes was introduced in the 1996 budget. This allowed new applicants over age 75, who were previously required to satisfy more rigourous household composition rules, to be assessed in the same way as all other persons in that age category. This means that their household composition will not affect their eligibility for the free schemes. Effectively now all persons over age 75 who are in receipt of a qualifying payment may qualify for the free schemes. In addition, the free schemes were extended in July 1996 to include low-income pensioners who were not in receipt of a social welfare type payment. The weekly income limit fixed for this purpose is the maximum personal rate of old age contributory pension currently £83 per week, plus any increases for dependants, plus £30.
The fuel schemes are historically different in nature to the free schemes and, therefore, qualification conditions differ significantly. The fuel scheme is a means-tested payment which is not age-related. The free schemes, on the other hand, are mainly payable to pensioners.
The national fuel scheme and the smokeless fuel scheme are tailored to provide assistance to qualified householders who are unable to provide for their own solid fuel heating needs. Persons who are in receipt of a means-tested payment automatically satisfy the means test for these payments. However, in the case of contributory pensioners, if they and members of their household have a combined income of more than £15 per week or savings or investments of £8,000 or more above the appropriate maximum Irish contributory pension rate, they do not qualify for either of the fuel schemes. The income limit will be increased to £30 per week in excess of the maximum pension rate from October 1999.
It is intented to undertake a review of the free schemes, commencing early this year, and the matter raised will be examined in that context.
