Written Answers Nos. 106 - 115
107. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will guarantee not to withdraw free travel passes for old age pensioners in Budget 2013 and future budgets, in view of their importance in everyday life in the community; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39826/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Revised Estimates for my Department in 2012 provides for expenditure of €77 million on the free travel scheme. The appropriate level of overall expenditure for my Department in the years ahead, including expenditure on the free travel scheme, will be considered by the Government in the context of Budget 2013 and subsequent Budgets.
108. Deputy Heather Humphreys asked the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Cavan can expect to receive a date for their Social Welfare appeal oral hearing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39833/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing in this case. There has been a very significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office since 2007 when the intake was 14,070 to 2010 and 2011 when the intake rose to 32,432 and 31,241 respectively. This has significantly impacted on the processing time for appeals which require oral hearings and, in order to be fair to all appellants, they are dealt with in strict chronological order.
It is anticipated that an oral hearing of this case will be scheduled in approximately four to five weeks time and the person concerned will be advised of the arrangement. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
109. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will change the qualifying conditions for fuel allowance eligibility, to allow persons who have been named dependants on a social welfare payment who had to leave the family home with their children and start a claim in their own name be eligible for fuel allowance; if she will confirm whether the time a person spent as dependant on a claim will qualify towards eligibility for fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39834/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department assists low income households with their energy costs through their basic payments and through the means tested fuel allowance scheme for those who are dependent on long-term social welfare payments and are unable to provide for their own heating needs. The estimated cost of the fuel allowance in 2012 is €214 million. The conditions for fuel allowance require that an applicant be in receipt of a qualifying payment. In the case mentioned by the Deputy, the applicant must be in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance for fifteen months to be eligible. A period of time in which the applicant was a qualified adult is not included.
Unfortunately in light of the existing economic situation I am not in a position to consider extending the fuel allowance scheme qualifying criteria. The number in receipt of the fuel allowance has increased greatly in recent years from 265,000 in 2005 to approximately 400,000 people in 2012. While of course we want to protect the basic social welfare payments which have very positive economic and social effects, regrettably there is a requirement to achieve savings due to our commitments with the IMF/EU/ECB Troika. There will be an ongoing necessity to curtail overall expenditure in 2012 and in later years.
Under the Department’s supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances who have special heating needs because of ill health or infirmity. In addition, exceptional needs payments (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of his or her own resources.
110. Deputy Paschal Donohoe asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the status of an application for carers' allowance submitted in November 2011 by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39837/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question. The application is awaiting examination by a deciding officer for a means assessment and a full decision. The application will be processed as quickly as possible and when a decision is made the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
111. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will clarify with regard to recent cuts which financially seriously affect new claimants for contributory old age pensions and the State transition pension and will she enable these persons affected to sign on for credited PRSI contributions, in view of the fact that many of these persons were not aware of any pending changes that took effect on the 1st September. [39840/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are a number of significant challenges currently facing the Irish pension system. At present, there are six people of working age for every pensioner and this ratio is expected to decrease to approximately two to one by 2050. In addition, those aged over 65 will account for a greater proportion of the population while the proportion who are of working age is expected to decline. Therefore, the task of financing increasing pensions will fall to a diminishing share of the population. With increases in life expectancy, more people are living to pension age and living longer in retirement and the period for which a pension will be paid will be greater than the period for which a pension is paid at present. This has obvious and significant implications in relation to the future costs of State pension provision and for the sustainability of pension provision into the future. In addition to this, spending on social protection accounts for nearly 40% of current Government expenditure and in the context of the current fiscal crisis savings have to be found in the social welfare system.
In this regard, it should be noted that older people do not experience the levels of poverty that existed in the past. This can be clearly seen in a wide range of data such as the significant reduction in the ‘risk of poverty’ rate from 27.1% in 2004 to 9.6% in 2010. The consistent poverty rate over the same period also declined from 3.9% to 0.9%. The Government has made decisions on a number of changes to State pension provision including the changes to the rate bands which came into effect in September 2012 for new customers.
Currently a person with an average of 20-47 PRSI contributions per year over their working life receives a weekly State pension of only €4.50 less than a person with a yearly average of 48 or more PRSI contributions. This is neither fair nor equitable. From September 2012, additional rates bands for State pension (transition) and State pension (contributory) will be introduced to more fairly reflect the attachment to the workforce by the claimant.
The maximum rate will remain unchanged and the rate payable to people with an average of between 40 and 47 contributions per year will also remain unchanged. However, those who have fewer contributions will receive a lower rate of pension. This change moves somewhat closer to the total contribution approach where those who pay more, benefit more. For information, the new rate bands are included in the table. In addition, with effect from 6th April 2012, late claims for the State pension (transition), State pension (contributory), widow’s, widower’s or surviving partner’s contributory pension will be limited to a maximum period of 6 months.
The State pension is the bedrock of the Irish pension system, and these reforms are essential to address the challenges of increasing life expectancy and to ensure its sustainability. In terms of the changes in the rate bands for determining the level of pension payment, allowing persons affected to sign on for credited PRSI contributions will not automatically guarantee an enhanced rate of pension. For those due to reach pension age in the near future this is likely to be of marginal or no value. Allowing retrospective credited contributions bridge any shortfall would remove all budget savings and could potentially give rise to significant additional costs.
An information campaign in relation to all of the changes has been underway since March 2012 and all information can be accessed at www.welfare.ie . My Department also met with the relevant representative groups and information leaflets were disseminated to all relevant groups as part of the information campaign
Current State Pension (Contributory) Rates of payment
|
Yearly average contributions |
Personal Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged under 66 years Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged over 66 years Rate per week |
|
48 or over |
€230.30 |
€153.50 |
€206.30 |
|
20 - 47 |
€225.80 |
€153.50 |
€206.30 |
|
15 – 19 |
€172.70 |
€115.10 |
€154.70 |
|
10 – 14 |
€115.20 |
€76.80 |
€103.20 |
New State Pension (Contributory) Rates of payment
|
Yearly average contributions |
Personal Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged under 66 years Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged over 66 years Rate per week |
|
48 or over |
€230.30 |
€153.50 |
€206.30 |
|
40 - 47 |
€225.80 |
€146.00 |
€196.00 |
|
30 – 39 |
€207.00 |
€139.00 |
€186.00 |
|
20 – 29 |
€196.00 |
€130.00 |
€175.00 |
|
15 – 19 |
€150.00 |
€100.00 |
€134.00 |
|
10 – 14 |
€92.00 |
€61.00 |
€83.00 |
Current State Pension (Transition) Rates of payment
|
Yearly average contributions |
Personal Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged under 66 years Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged over 66 years Rate per week |
|
48 or over |
€230.30 |
€153.50 |
€206.30 |
|
24 - 47 |
€225.80 |
€153.50 |
€206.30 |
New State Pension (Transition) – Rates of payment
|
Yearly average contributions |
Personal Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged under 66 years Rate per week |
Increase for Qualified Adult aged over 66 years Rate per week |
|
48 or over |
€230.30 |
€153.50 |
€206.30 |
|
40 - 47 |
€225.80 |
€146.00 |
€196.00 |
|
30 – 39 |
€207.00 |
€139.00 |
€186.00 |
|
24 – 29 |
€196.00 |
€130.00 |
€175.00 |
112. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Social Protection if it is her procedure when processing rent allowance applications to ensure that the rented property owner in question is registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board. [39851/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are currently over 90,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided €436million for 2012.
Landlords are legally obliged to register tenancies with the PRTB within one month from the start date of the tenancy or at a later date on payment of an increased fee. For this reason, it is not practicable for the Department to insist that a tenancy be registered with the PRTB before payment of rent supplement can be made. There are also instances where a rent supplement tenancy need not be registered with the PRTB, for example, in the case of renting a room in a house or where a property is owner occupied. Rent supplement tenancies which are liable for registration with the PRTB, should be so registered.
The Department works closely with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) to help ensure that rent supplement tenancies comply with the statutory system of tenancy regulation and safeguards. The Department advises the PRTB of all new rent supplemented tenancies to assist them in implementing tenancy regulations and co-operates in any initiatives taken by the PRTB to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act.
113. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) in Dublin 17 is being pursued by her Department for a 14 year old €40 overpayment which was an error by her Department. [39860/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is fully committed to recovering 100% of all overpayments. An overpayment will remain on a customer’s record until fully recovered. This will result in a reduction of all future entitlements up to and including state pension and potentially a claim on any estate after death. Persons who have a debt and who are no longer dependent on social welfare are required to repay a debt as quickly as possible.
The overpayment in the case referred to by the Deputy was in respect of Jobseekers Benefit in the amount of €53.14. The overpayment falls into the category of customer or third party error rather than error by my Department. Two repayments have thus far been made, €7.50 deduction from Jobseekers Benefit for the period 04/08/05 to 13/08/05 and €3.00 deduction from Occupational Injuries Benefit for the period 11/01/10 to 16/01/10, leaving an outstanding balance of €42.64.
114. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appeal to seek a review regarding invalidity pension in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39865/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned has not been received by that office.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
