Vol. 638 No. 1
109 Deputy Bernard Allen asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding the backlog of pension claims identified earlier in 2007; the reason for this backlog; the average waiting time for a claim to be processed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20775/07]
My Department is committed to providing a quality service for all of its customers. Claims and applications are processed and decisions on entitlement issued as quickly as possible, having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply and the available resources.
The State pension transition, SPT, and State pension contributory, SPC, schemes, which are insurance based schemes, require those eligible to reach a certain standard in terms of the social insurance contributions paid or credited on their record. The customer base is 239,000 with an annual intake of 36,000 claims. These customers predominantly reside within the State but approximately 14% are paid abroad.
Some difficulties occurred during the months prior to May this year with regard to the processing of State pension transition and State pension contributory claims. In April there was a backlog of approximately 9,200 new claims for SPT and SPC at various stages of processing. These were divided into 5,600 domestic and 3,600 foreign claims. By the end of August the domestic claims backlog was fully cleared and action was taken on all foreign claims. In all cases where delays occur customers do not lose payment as the determining date for pension payment used is the original date of receipt of the claim.
Social welfare entitlements requiring examination under EU or bilateral agreements take a longer time to process than domestic claims due to the need to obtain additional information from the customer which can often prove to be difficult and to exchange information with the other countries involved. Approximately 3,000 foreign claims await information from customers or foreign institutions. Reviews of the implementation of EU and bilateral arrangements, including the timely processing of requests for information, are carried out from time to time by officials of the Department and social insurance institutions in the other countries involved.
Delays in processing new claims occurred for a number of reasons, namely, an increase in the numbers of new claims received, the implementation in September 2006 of a number of scheme enhancements introduced in budget 2006, an unusually high level of staff turnover in the office in Sligo and delays which arose following the migration of the pensions system to a new computer system. As I stated, these have all been dealt with and all we await is information from other countries on foreign claims.
One of the reasons given in May for the delay in processing was a series of technical glitches in the Department's IT system. Will the Minister confirm that this issue has been resolved? He mentioned the turnover of staff in Sligo, part of the reason for which was decentralisation. Will he guarantee that steps will be taken to ensure the Department's customers will not be affected by the decentralisation process?
The Deputy's first question is one I also asked. All of the issues have been resolved. There were some technical issues but they have been resolved. I have provided the information to the Deputy. About 40% of the staff turnover was related to decentralisation where staff transferred to another area. I certainly do not want any issues relating to decentralisation, which is substantial within my Department, to have any effect on customers in terms of the delivery of the services they require. We will try to ensure — and the staff is committed to this — that such upheaval will not cause the type of delays to which the Deputy referred. I am glad this issue was resolved very quickly. All the outstanding claims are foreign based and relate to information from the individuals or the institutions in the other countries. Until we get that information we cannot finalise the payment. However, it will be backdated so that there is no loss of money to the individual.
If one needs a pension one cannot afford to wait. In regard to other claims within the Department, such as the carer's allowance, where there is also a significant backlog, will the Minister outline any steps he will take? There is a similar backlog for the €1,000 payment to foreign nationals living here who are entitled to receive it.
I do not have that information with me but I will raise the issue in the Department.
110 Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he expects to complete consideration of the proposed new package of reforms of State aid for lone parents which was promised; when he further expects to bring forward proposals; if such proposals will be included in his budget 2008 package; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20733/07]
The Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, put forward proposals for the expanded availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents; the extension of the national employment action plan to focus on lone parents; focused provision of child care; improved information services for lone parents and the introduction of a social assistance payment for low income families with young children. The paper also proposed the abolition of the cohabitation rule as a condition for receipt of the proposed social assistance payment — something with which we would all agree.
One of the proposals in the report was that the upper income limit for the new social assistance payment should be set at €400 per week. This proposal was completed in budget 2007 which in effect meant that the upper income limit increased by more than one third in two years.
In addition, the report recommended increasing the qualified child increase for recipients of the one-parent family payment. In budget 2007 the three rates of qualified child increase, which had been maintained at the same levels for several years, were combined into a single rate of €22 per week in respect of more than 340,000 children of welfare families.
The new social assistance payment, under development in my Department, will have the long term aim of assisting people to achieve financial independence through supporting them to enter employment — the avenue that is widely agreed to offer the best route out of poverty.
Any proposed new payment can only be introduced when the necessary co-ordinated supports and services are put in place on the ground by other Departments and agencies. This is why the Government has instructed the senior officials group on social inclusion to create an implementation plan to progress the non-income recommendations in tandem with the development of the legislation required in my Department to introduce any new payment. Discussions are ongoing with the relevant Departments and agencies on issues including child care, education, training, and activation measures.
As part of this process, my Department, with the co-operation of FÁS, the Office of the Minister for Children and the Department of Education and Science, is to test the non-income, activation proposals in Coolock, Dublin and in Kilkenny. These tests, due to commence in October, will focus on identifying and resolving the practical and administrative issues that may arise in advance of the scheme being introduced. This will allow for operational and logistical co-ordination between the relevant Departments and agencies to be considered and will facilitate the development of the policy and operational details of the new scheme.
I am concerned that 18 months have elapsed since the discussion paper was published and it is still not clear how the Minister intends to proceed with those proposals. I appreciate the Minister referred to the fact that the income limits are being raised but that is only one aspect. He also said the implementation group would look at the non-income elements. I wish to ask about the income elements. Those elements provide the poverty traps in which many lone parents find themselves in accessing employment and in respect of rent supplement if they enter employment and, most critically, cohabiting arrangements within the family. I am not clear how the Minister intends to proceed on those matters. Does he accept the recommendations and proposals made in the discussion document? Has he established an implementation group on those elements? Given that the document was published 18 months ago, I would have thought he would have been in a position to bring proposals on those critical elements to Cabinet in time for this year's budget. Is it his intention to do so? In particular, how does he intend to proceed on those income-related elements?
We have moved on some of the income areas which have made a considerable difference. We all agree that the measure that led to the greatest level of stability and the greatest number of options for many families was the removal of the cohabitation issue, whereby the partner was not supposed to be living in the property. This issue led to considerable instability, particularly for young children where the presence of both parents working together was required to assist each other. The change in the rule is substantive.
The Deputy raised issues on implementation, as I have done. Clearly, the Office of the Minister for Children is involved, as is the Department of Education and Science. There is a specific group in place. I have now stated we will have a pilot scheme in Coolock in Dublin starting in the next month or two, as well as in Kilkenny in two centres. They want to do this to ensure the appropriate structures will be in place. There would be no point in rolling out a national scheme if we were unsure whether it would work and achieve the desired outcomes. The outcome we want is to facilitate lone parents in returning to the workforce in a meaningful way that will allow them to earn as much as they can and also to facilitate them in getting their children into a happy schooling environment or some lone parents to return to the education system. It is a complex structure involving many of the different bodies involved. I can only move as quickly as the experts can. I do not claim to be an expert in this area. The senior group is working through the matter. Within the next month activation proposals will be tried in Coolock in Dublin and Kilkenny.
For how long will the pilot schemes run? When does the Minister expect to be in a position to take a decision on expanding the proposals? Where stands the issue of cohabitation? How does the Minister intend to proceed on the matter?
I ask the Minister to outline how the pilot system is intended to work in the chosen areas?
The pilot system will work in Coolock in Dublin and Kilkenny. The test due to commence in October will focus on identifying and resolving the practical and administrative issues that may arise in advance of the scheme being introduced. They will work with all those who will benefit from the scheme. In the past we introduced new ideas which of themselves seemed beneficial only to find that when commenced they reduced benefits a person may have had or disimproved access to other services he or she may have had with the result that the overall position was not improved. The intention is to ensure we can give a broader role and better equip lone parents and their children to participate in society by creating an opportunity to work, to be educated and to live as normal a life as the rest of us.
111 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the proposals he has in mind to extend the carer’s allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20830/07]
117 Deputy Paul Connaughton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in the development of a national carer’s strategy; when he will publish same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20786/07]
119 Deputy Pádraic McCormack asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps he will take to fulfil the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government to ensure a national carer’s strategy will be developed by end 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20807/07]
133 Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he plans to abolish the means test for the carer’s allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20783/07]
134 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he plans to further increase the eligibility for carer’s allowance. [20697/07]
172 Deputy Joe Costello asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made to date with regard to implementation of the 2003 report of the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs on carers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20729/07]
569 Deputy Charlie O’Connor asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the polices the Government will put in place to improve conditions for carers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19768/07]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 117, 119, 133, 134, 172 and 569 together.
Supporting and recognising carers in our society is, and has been, a priority of the Government since 1997. Over that period, weekly payment rates to carers have greatly increased, qualifying conditions for carer's allowance have significantly eased, coverage of the scheme has been extended and new schemes such as carer's benefit and the respite care grant have been introduced and extended. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs publication, Report on the Position of Full-Time Carers, which was published in 2003, makes 15 recommendations. Some of these relate specifically to my Department and others relate to the Department of Health and Children.
A key recommendation of the report was that where a person is in receipt of a widow's or widower's pension and is providing someone with full-time care and attention, he or she should be paid a half rate carer's allowance in addition to his or her pension. Budget 2007 introduced fundamental structural reforms in this area which go beyond this recommendation. From tomorrow, people in receipt of certain other social welfare payments, who are also providing full-time care and attention to a person, will retain their main welfare payment and receive another payment, depending on their means, the maximum of which will be the equivalent of a half rate carer's allowance. It is estimated this measure will benefit more than 17,000 carers by up to €100 per week at a cost of €56.72 million in a full year.
These new arrangements will apply to people receiving weekly social welfare payments, other than recipients of jobseeker's allowance or benefit or those signing for jobseeker's credits and people in receipt of a qualified adult allowance. This is in line with the arrangements that apply to receipt of the respite care grant. The recommended extension of the respite care grant to people in receipt of a social welfare payment, other than carer's allowance or benefit, who are providing full-time care and attention, was implemented in budget 2005. That improvement went beyond the report's recommendation in that the grant was extended to all full-time carers, regardless of means.
One of the fundamental qualifying conditions for carer's allowance, carer's benefit and the respite care grant is that the person be providing full-time care and attention to a person who needs such care. The number of hours a person may engage in employment, self-employment, training or education outside the home and still be considered to be providing full-time care and attention for the purposes of the schemes was increased from ten to 15 hours per week in June 2006. In budget 2006, the duration of carer's benefit was extended from 15 to 24 months. This is in line with the joint committee's recommendation that the 15-month restriction be waived where the person continues to provide care. Carer's allowance, in line with other social assistance schemes, is means tested. This ensures scarce resources are directed at those in the greatest need. The means test has been significantly eased over the years most notably with regard to spouse's earnings. Budget 2007 provided for an income disregard for a couple of €640 per week. This ensures a couple can earn in the region of €36,000 per annum and still receive the maximum rate of carer's allowance and the associated free travel and household benefits. This measure surpasses the Towards 2016 commitment to ensure those on average industrial earnings continue to qualify for a full carer's allowance. In addition, the rates of carer's allowance have been increased to €200 per week for those aged under 66 and to €218 per week for those aged over 66.
The report also recommended the development of a national strategy for carers. One of the key Government commitments in the national partnership agreement, Towards 2016, is the development of a national carer's strategy and this commitment is reiterated in the programme for Government. The strategy will focus on supporting informal and family carers in the community. While social welfare supports for carers will clearly be a key issue in the strategy, other issues such as access to respite and other services, education, training and employment will also feature strongly. Co-operation between relevant Departments and agencies is essential if the provision of services, supports and entitlements for carers is to be fully addressed. For that reason all relevant Departments and agencies will be involved in the strategy and there will be appropriate consultation with the social partners. My Department, along with a number of others, is examining how this issue can best be addressed.
The recent improvements in the income supports available from my Department, together with improvements in home care and related services provided by the Minister for Health and Children, represent major improvements in the services and supports available to carers in the community. I will keep the supports for carers available from my Department under review in order to continue to improve the schemes and ensure commitments on income support are delivered.
I welcome the positive changes made to the carer's allowance but, in view of the significant benefit to the Exchequer of easements in the means test for the allowance, will the Minister consider broadening eligibility for carers in the current year? The reward to the Exchequer is huge because those being cared for would require institutional care if they were not being looked after at home by carers. Will the Minister clarify the case for carers who have given much of their life to the work of caring for relatives but who have not given up PAYE employment? Does the Minister foresee a time when he can retrospectively award credits so that such people will in their own right be able to claim a pension in the future?
I am glad the Deputy agrees. We have come a long way in a relatively short period, and rightly so. There is no doubt those who provide care deliver a great service. If the State had to provide this, the cost would probably far exceed the current cost. Nevertheless we have grown the budget in this area very substantially.
Nobody has unlimited resources, so we must continue to ensure we target the benefits, be they financial or otherwise. This is particularly relevant where we offer financial benefits to those who could do with them most. We should have some structures around those who benefit. Some families, who can well afford much more than others, should not necessarily get all of this free. The targeted method we are using, the apparent benefits and the lifting of the limit to €36,000 of income, amounts to a very generous package.
My intention as I go forward with this Government is to do more within this broad area. We will act on whatever issues we can bring to bear at budget time or otherwise. It is an area in which I have a particular and obvious interest. I wish to build on the excellent work done to date.
Given the saving to the State by the work carers provide, is the Government considering an individual assessment for carers recognising that they are providing the care, rather than a partner for example? Under the social partnership agreement it was agreed that income limits for carer's allowance would be expanded. Does the Minister intend that this will be seen in the 2008 budget?
The Minister will be aware that there are approximately 3,000 children aged 15 to 17 years old engaged as full-time carers. They may not appreciate me calling them children.
They would not.
Some of them work for up to 43 hours per week caring for people within the home. Does the Minister feel a separate strategy should be provided for them? These people are a unique section within the caring community and they are missing out on education and much of their youth in such a position. They are certainly fulfilling a task the State should probably do. I realise a study will be carried out under the partnership agreements but perhaps a strategy should emerge from that study.
I would like to have full information on this, although I know the area being spoken about by the Deputy and some of my own colleagues have pointed out these facts to me. We must look at how we can achieve results on the issue. At this stage I cannot pre-empt what the Minister for Finance might decide to do with the budget. We will have our own discussions — as do all Departments — in regard to all of these areas in advance of the budget. We will ensure that we progress and build on the very clear and enormous benefits the Department of Social and Family Affairs delivers across the country.
It is quite extraordinary that the amounts in question have come from approximately €3.7 billion to more than €15.3 billion today, when unemployment has plummeted to where we almost have full employment. This demonstrates that we have correctly shifted our emphasis to the services area, particularly services and resources people must have to fully participate in society. We want to build on this.
In the past two years there was much catching up from a social welfare perspective. Many big jumps were required to bring us to some reasonable norms acceptable to people throughout the country. We must incrementally protect those and build on them as we go forward vis-à-vis inflation or other issues so that the good base and incomes available to people are protected from budget to budget and from year to year.
The introduction of the half-rate carer's allowance has been a very welcome development but it has thrown up several anomalies. I would like clarification on these from the Minister as I have been unable to get it from his Department. I refer, for example, to whether a person who is in receipt of a qualified adult allowance will be entitled to half rate carer's allowance. Will a person who is in receipt of carer's allowance and who has an underlying entitlement to a State pension be in a position to avail of the two-payment arrangement that has been introduced?
I wish to refer also to applicants for carer's allowance who do not meet the criteria relating to full-time care and attention. I understand that 15% of people who applied for carer's allowance last year were refused on the basis they did not provide full-time care and attention. Does the Minister accept there may be a number of circumstances in which a carer might be providing critical care and attention to somebody, perhaps not on a full-time basis, which enables the individual to whom it is being provided to stay in his or her home and remain outside State nursing home care? Is there a need to relax the existing requirement or to introduce a part payment to people who may be providing two to four hours care per day, which is critical in nature and which, as already stated, enables the person to whom it is being provided to remain in his or her home? In my opinion there is a need to relax the criteria relating to full-time care and attention and I ask the Minister to consider taking action in that regard.
I welcome the support offered by the Deputy and Members on all sides for the new half rate carer's allowance that comes into effect from tomorrow. This payment will be enormously beneficial to many people. There is no doubt that when a change of this magnitude is introduced, anomalies will arise in the system. The latter is particularly true in the case of a Department such as mine, which has a huge customer base. The Deputy highlighted specific areas in respect of which issues arise. I want to achieve two things, namely, to ensure resources are used to the best effect and to see to it that such resources are targeted at areas in respect of which they will provide the best outcomes and prove most beneficial.
It is not possible to resolve all the issues in one year or through one budget. The achievements realised in the area of carers in recent years have been phenomenal. We want to protect these achievements and build on them. There are issues relating to this area and the Deputy pointed out that as regards the cost to the State, the return obtained in respect of the investment made is extremely significant. We want to protect this position and if we can enhance the system by allowing people to provide specific care while also taking account of other aspects of their lives, we will try to do so.
My question also relates to the introduction of the half rate carer's allowance. This change was announced in the budget but is only being brought in this week. The Minister stated that we have come a long way in a short period. I have raised the anomaly of people on other social welfare payments who do not qualify for carer's allowance in respect of each of the past eight budgets. I possess records which support my claim in this regard. A half rate carer's allowance will finally be provided to some categories of people in receipt of certain other social welfare payments later this week.
Is it the Minister's view that people in receipt of, for example, widow's pension are not full-time carers and are not as good at what they do as other carers? While I welcome the introduction of the half rate carer's allowance, I am disappointed that people who provide full-time care for doubly incontinent, bed-ridden patients in their own homes will only qualify for this rate. Will the Minister consider eliminating this anomaly in order that those to whom I refer might qualify for the full carer's allowance? Under the means test, the income requirement relating to a couple is €36,000. However, a person in receipt of widow's pension is only paid €10,000 per year. This falls well below the means test requirement relating to other categories.
I should have answered the question raised by Deputy Shortall about people in receipt of the qualified adult allowance. My understanding is that the arrangements do apply and include people on the qualified adult allowance, if I am reading my note correctly. That is certainly my understanding of it. It also applies to people on social welfare payments generally. That goes across the system, although there are some exceptions.
Deputy McCormack has again returned to the issue. Of course anomalies arise within the system, particularly when one makes the sort of sweeping changes we have made. All are in agreement that the benefits the half carer's payment will bring will be very substantial. If I had unlimited resources, we could simply pay it without any means test or criteria, but we do not live in that world. I do not necessarily agree that this is the best use of precious resources provided by the taxpayer to spend in different Departments as we go forward every year.
I want to build on what has been achieved with regard to carers. I have consistently stated this since we started the debate this afternoon. There are anomalies, with which I will try to deal. This does not necessarily mean that I can deal with all of them, but I would like to target it to the maximum benefit of the widest group which can benefit from any change that we may pursue.
112 Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his Department’s review of the disability allowance scheme has been completed; if so, the findings of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20777/07]
Disability allowance was one of the payments which formed part of the expenditure review of illness and disability payment schemes that was carried out by my Department in 2003 and subsequently published in 2004. The review examined and reported on the trend and level of expenditure and found that disability allowance is well targeted in addressing income maintenance requirements of customers and combating social exclusion. In addition, the review highlighted a number of areas where further work can be usefully targeted. The first of these is the reason for the rise in the number of recipients of disability allowance since 1996, when my Department initiated the disability allowance scheme to replace the previously existing disabled person's maintenance allowance scheme.
The second area to be further examined is access for people in receipt of disability allowance to employment and training. This is obviously an area of increased importance to the Department, reflected in the focus on people of working age, in the national action plan on social inclusion, Towards 2016 and the Department's disability sectoral plan. The sectoral plan is of particular importance in that regard because it builds on the Department's key policy objectives and aims to deliver support to people with disabilities that will reduce their risk of dependence. It is now proposed to further examine these two particular issues. I am anxious to ensure that this examination is relevant to the needs of persons with disabilities and my Department is at present finalising terms of reference for the review.
Central to this work will be the forthcoming publication by the Central Statistics Office of findings from the national survey on disability in Ireland carried out in 2006. This survey will allow the Department, for the first time, to "match" the incidence of disability in Ireland against the numbers in receipt of disability allowance. It will give valuable information on the profile of recipients, including previous and current employment history, which will allow for more informed policy options to be taken. Publication of this survey by the Central Statistics Office is expected before the end of 2007.
Is the review referred to by the Minister the same as that of the disability allowance scheme, which is due at the end of December 2007? The Minister is obviously aware that an EU study in 2005 found that persons with a chronic illness or disability are twice as likely to be in a position of consistent poverty compared with other members of the population. In light of this, will the Minister's review include and will he consider the introduction of a cost of disability payment? I believe this is the only method of addressing the extra expenses which a person with a disability has, compared with another member of the population. Has the Minister given any consideration to introducing this payment?
The final point, with which I would agree, is that they may be looking at this in the wrong way to some degree by concentrating on the disability rather than on everybody having ability, irrespective of whether there are some areas where they are unable to work. We want to identify what the ability spectrum is with regard to many of these people and see whether we can get them into the workforce in a way that facilitates them. If we do that, we will have taken a large step forward rather than screening people and effectively saying that if one is disabled in a particular way, one cannot work.
That is more expensive, a fact we cannot ignore.
Yes, it is, but we can reverse how we look at it. The numbers in this area have grown substantially in the past several years. We would all like to know the reason for the jump from 36,000 people in receipt of this allowance some years ago to 82,000 this year. That will form part of a broad-ranging review regarding what we will do in the future.
