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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 2 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

John Perry

Ceist:

71 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons who will qualify for the Christmas bonus payment in 2003; the numbers under each social welfare payment; the number of persons in receipt of short-term payments who will be excluded from the bonus; and the costs of same. [29060/03]

As the House will be aware, on 26 October last, I announced that the Christmas bonus for 2003 will again be paid at a rate equivalent to 100% of the person's normal weekly payment, subject to a minimum payment of €30. The estimated cost of this measure is €115.63 million, comprising €110 million for recipients of social welfare payments and an additional €5.6 million for certain participants in FÁS, VTOS, jobs initiative and community employment schemes. Payment of the bonus will be made during the first week in December and it is estimated that it will benefit some 1.23 million persons comprising approximately 805,000 recipients and an estimated 421,000 dependents.

The bonus will be paid, as in previous years, to recipients of all long-term social welfare payments and the projected number of recipients in each scheme category is as follows:

Payment Type

Estimated Number of Recipients

Invalidity Pension

53,000

Retirement Pension

86,600

Old Age (Con.) Pension

113,000

Widows, Widowers and Orphans (Con.) Pension

104,500

Deserted Wives Benefit

11,300

Occupational Injuries Benefit

12,600

Old Age Pension (Non-Con.)

86,700

Blind Pensions

2,050

Payment Type

Estimated Number of Recipients

Widows/Orphans (Non-Con.)

16,400

DWA/PWA

1,550

One-parent Family Payment

81,000

Carer's Allowance

21,000

Pre-Retirement Allowance

11,000

Disability Allowance

66,600

Employment Support Schemes (Back To Work etc.)

24,000

Long-Term Unemployment Assistance

52,000

Farm Assist

8,700

Other Health Benefits (e.g. Domiciliary Care Allowance)

24,770

CE, VTOS, FÁS, Cert

28,000

Total for all Schemes

804,770

The focus of the Christmas bonus has always been on long-term welfare payment recipients, who rely on the social welfare system for financial support over long periods. Recipients of short-term payments, which include short-term unemployment payments, disability benefit, maternity benefit, carer's benefit, family income supplement and supplementary welfare allowance do not, therefore, qualify for the bonus payment. Approximately 196,950 people receive these short-term weekly payments, and the estimated cost of extending entitlement to the bonus to this category is €27.2 million.

Dan Boyle

Ceist:

72 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the numbers in 2003 who benefited from the transitional half-rate payment of lone parent allowance who have taken up employment and earned more than ?293 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29012/03]

The means test under the one-parent family payment scheme is designed to encourage those in receipt of the payment to avail of opportunities to take up employment and to ensure that the scheme is not an obstacle in that regard. This approach involves supports for lone parents in their efforts to find work or participate in training and education schemes and other programmes to that end, including the full range of employment support schemes operated by my Department. Lone parents are further encouraged to take up work through the earnings disregards which are a feature of the one-parent family payment scheme. These disregards are designed to recognise the particular expenses, which a lone parent may face in taking up employment and training opportunities, and to encourage him or her to consider employment as an alternative to long-term welfare dependency. There are no similar disregards applicable in other means-tested schemes.

The operation of the earnings disregard means that a lone parent may earn up to €293 per week and still retain entitlement to some level of payment. Transitional arrangements have also applied whereby a lone parent who exceeds the earning threshold retained 50% of his or her previous payment for a further 12 months. The latest figures available at the end of October 2003 indicate that there were 91,945 unmarried, separated or deserted lone parents receiving the one-parent family payment or a payment under a corresponding scheme. Of these, 628 were on a transitional half rate payment.
The Abridged Estimates provide for the ending of the transitional payment that applies under the scheme. The lone parents concerned will, however, be eligible for the family income supplement. This will have the effect of treating lone parents on low income in the same way as other workers on low earnings with child dependants. The family income supplement, in providing cash support for employees with families on low earnings, preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if she or he were claiming other social welfare payments.
I am confident that this scheme will effectively serve the same purpose for lone parents in employment as it does for other workers on low earnings with families. More generally, the issue of the effective use of resources in providing child income support is being examined under the special initiative on ending child poverty under Sustaining Progress. The outcome and recommendations will be fully considered in the context of further policy development in this important area.
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