Vol. 527 No. 3
292 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if, where a person in receipt of a rent subsidy from a health board commences a FÁS course, that person is permitted to retain that subsidy without any reduction for the duration of the course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28324/00]
Under the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme, a weekly supplement may be paid in respect of rent or mortgage interest to people in receipt of social welfare or health board payments.
Entitlement to a supplement is determined by the health boards. Supplements are normally calculated to ensure that the person, after payment of rent or mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to the family circumstances, less £6. This £6 represents the minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources.
Applicants are also required to contribute any assessable means in excess of the appropriate basic supplementary welfare allowance rate towards their rent or mortgage interest supplement. However, people participating in FÁS training courses may retain up to £25 per week of any additional income they receive while undertaking their training.
In the case of people on the live register, their unemployment assistance or unemployment benefit payment ceases when they take up a FÁS training course. Instead, they receive a training allowance which is usually no more than £25 per week more than their previous unemployment payment. Consequently, there is no reduction in their rent supplement payment.
In the case of people in receipt of one-parent family payment, that payment continues when they take up a FÁS training course and they also receive a training allowance from FÁS. In these cases, they retain the first £25 of the training allowance and their rent supplement is reduced by any additional amount over and above the £25 that they receive.
Participants may subsequently move into employment via an employment programme such as community employment, back-to-work, or they can take up a full-time job under the revenue job assist scheme. These programmes and schemes provide vehicles for the retention of all secondary benefits, including rent supplement.
293 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of citizens over 75 years who are in receipt of the free telephone rental allowance; and the cost to the State of allowing free telephone installation to all citizens over the age of 75 years. [28347/00]
298 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will make the necessary arrangements to ensure that senior citizens over the age of 75 years who have a dedicated telephone in a nursing home or other such establishment have the benefit of the appropriate free scheme; and if he will examine the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny with a view to making the free scheme available to this elderly person. [28292/00]
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 293 and 298 together.
The free schemes, including the free electricity-gas allowance, free telephone rental allowance and free television licence schemes, are generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who meet the conditions of a means test. They are also available to carers and people with disabilities under the age of 66 years who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments.
Widows and widowers aged from 60 to 65 years whose late spouses had been in receipt of free schemes retain that entitlement in order to ensure that households do not suffer a loss of entitlement following the death of a spouse.
From October this year, the free schemes, including the free telephone rental allowance, have been extended to all persons aged 75 years and over, regardless of their income and household composition. There are currently almost 107,500 people aged 75 years and over in receipt of the free telephone rental allowance.
The review of the free schemes, which was published by the Policy Institute, Trinity College Dublin in April this year, noted that the free schemes share a common set of objectives in the area of social inclusion. These are defined as: to provide assistance for those living alone by targeting them with specific benefits providing both income and social inclusion gains; to support older people and people with disabilities in their wish to remain in the community as opposed to institutional care; to support Government policy which seeks to acknowledge the value of older people in society.
The purpose of the free telephone rental allowance scheme is to provide an element of protection and security in their homes for older people and people with disabilities who are either living alone or with people who would be unable to summon help in an emergency. A secondary objective of the scheme is to encourage social contact and to assist in the prevention of social isolation for those living alone. Extending the free telephone rental allowance to those who reside in nursing homes would not be in keeping with the objectives outlined above.
294 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will review the entitlement to unemployment assistance of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 6W in view of the evidence now supplied. [28159/00]
One of the qualifying conditions for the receipt of unemployment benefit is that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time employment.
Under social welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims and the insurability of employment must be made by deciding officers and appeals officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.
The person concerned was in receipt of unemployment benefit from 8 February 1999 at variable weekly rates in accordance with her part-time employment. Following an interview the deciding officer decided that unemployment benefit was not payable from 24 February 2000 on the grounds that the person concerned was not genuinely seeking employment.
The person concerned appealed this decision and the case was referred to the social welfare appeals office for determination. On 10 July 2000, the appeals officer concluded, based on the evidence before him, that the appellant was confining herself to part-time employment and upheld the original decision.
The deciding officer, having reviewed her decision in the light of new evidence of efforts to secure employment, is satisfied that the original decision should stand. It is open to the person concerned to appeal the matter to the social welfare appeals office.
295 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when one-parent family allowance will be paid in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28237/00]
An application for one-par ent family payment was received from the person concerned on 6 November 2000. Her application has been forwarded to a local officer of my Department for assessment. The officer will arrange to interview the person concerned shortly.
Under social welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims must be made by deciding officers and appeals officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.
On completion of the necessary inquiries, a decision will be made on the claim and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome.
296 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when one-parent family allowance will be paid in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28238/00]
The person concerned was in receipt of one-parent family payment at the rate of £92.70 per week, consisting of a personal rate of £77.50 and an allowance of £15.20 in respect of one qualified child dependant.
Under social welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims and the insurability of employment must be made by deciding officers and appeals officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.
This payment was suspended by the Department with effect from 19 October 2000, as the person concerned had failed to provide evidence of her efforts to obtain maintenance for herself and her child. Her solicitor notified the Department in mid-November that the person concerned had secured maintenance of £35 per week by way of court order.
The person concerned was requested by the Department on 20 November 2000 to supply a copy of the court order on maintenance, and a P45 statement or letter from her employer confirming her gross weekly earnings.
On receipt of the required documentation, a decision will be made on the claim and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome.
297 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the assistance available under the social welfare code to people who have worked in the public services as teachers, nurses, and others and who were compelled by the marriage bar to cease work; if the position has changed in relation to their contribution records; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28258/00]
Former public servants paid a modified rate of social insurance which gave coverage for widow's and widower's and orphan's pensions and occupational injury benefit. This arrangement reflected their occupational pension position and general contract of service. Full PRSI coverage was extended to new entrants to the public service in 1995 with consequent changes in the occupational arrangements.
There has been no change in the social insurance position of former public servants though a number of changes in relation to qualification conditions for old age contributory pensions are benefiting those with a mixture of full rate and modified rate PRSI.
Special arrangements were introduced for old age contributory and retirement pension purposes in 1991 to cater for people with a mixture of full and modified rate PRSI. The revised arrangements provide for the payment of pro-rata pensions in proportion to the periods of insurance completed at the class A rate.
More recently I introduced a special flat rate old age contributory pension, payable at 50% of the maximum personal rate, to benefit people with pre-1953 social insurance contributions who, due to the yearly average rule, failed to qualify for a pension. In order to qualify a person must have at least 260 contributions paid at the appropriate rate, one of which must have been paid before 1953. I understand that former public servants are one of the major beneficiaries of this special measure. Those who cannot qualify for an insurance based pension scheme may apply for the means-tested old age non-contributory pension.
Payment of a social welfare pension also gives access to the full range of free schemes, including free electricity, television licence and free telephone rental. Measures introduced in budget 2000 extended coverage for these schemes to all people over 75 years of age regardless of income or household composition. This measure is therefore also benefiting former public servants.
Despite the combination of insurance and means based schemes there will still be people who will not qualify for a social welfare pension. However, the social welfare system cannot be expected to provide all the solutions to gaps in pensions coverage generally. Given that former public servants were never insured for social welfare pension purposes, the issue for these people relates to their terms and conditions of employment at the time which is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance.
Question No. 298 taken with No. 293.
299 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has estimated the cost of implementing the proposal that, in order to encourage people to apply for maintenance payments, one half of such maintenance payments received by persons on one-parent family payment should be disregarded; and the way in which maintenance payments are currently treated in the means test. [28334/00]
Under the means test associated with the one-parent family payment – OFP – all maintenance received, apart from an allowance of up to £75 per week of maintenance paid in respect of vouched housing costs, is assessed in determining a person's eligibility to receive the OFP. The review of the OFP, published in September 2000, proposed that recipients be allowed to retain 50% of any maintenance received from the absent parent in addition to the existing housing disregard. The review considered that such a measure would provide more of an incentive for OFP recipients to seek maintenance payments from the other parent of their child.
It is estimated that it would cost £1.3 million in a full year to extend this concession to those currently on reduced payments because of maintenance received.
