Written Answers Nos. 82-86
82. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of sick days taken by staff of her Department over the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53211/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of sick days taken by staff of the Department over the last 3 years is as outlined in the table below. The detail requested is being provided in respect of the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 which is the last year for which a complete record is available. The Deputy should note that the functions and staff of the Community Welfare Service transferred into the Department from the HSE on the 1st November 2011 and that the functions and staff of the Employment Support Services transferred to the Department from FÁS on the 1st January 2012. The additional staff represented an approximate 33% increase in the overall staffing figure of the Department over the 3 year period.
|
Year |
Number of Sick Days |
Percentage of Working Days Lost |
|
2010 |
64,377 |
5.8 |
|
2011 |
71,680 |
6.3 |
|
2012 |
89,013 |
5.8 |
83. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who signed off the live register over the first 11 months of 2013; if she will provide a breakdown of the reason for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53244/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraA total of 390,577 live register claims were closed during the first 11 months of 2013. A detailed breakdown of this number by claim duration and closure reason is contained in the tabular statement.
Live Register claim closures 1 January to 30 November 2013.
Claim Duration
|
Closure Reason |
<3mths |
3-6 mths |
6mths-1yr |
1-2yrs |
2-3yrs |
3-5yrs |
>5yrs |
Grand Total |
|
Found Work |
59,724 |
26,697 |
21,144 |
13,309 |
5,336 |
5,304 |
874 |
132,388 |
|
No Longer Entitled to Unemployment |
52,147 |
19,232 |
31,519 |
24,611 |
4,970 |
3,626 |
1,095 |
137,200 |
|
No Reason Stated |
9,143 |
10,824 |
10,451 |
7,374 |
3,233 |
3,414 |
1,050 |
45,489 |
|
Other |
6,475 |
3,355 |
3,123 |
2,428 |
1,131 |
1,327 |
461 |
18,300 |
|
Took up Educational, Training or Employment Placement |
6,170 |
5,413 |
5,761 |
4,622 |
2,225 |
2,986 |
1,009 |
28,186 |
|
Transferred to other DSP Schemes |
5,391 |
3,624 |
4,782 |
5,065 |
3,206 |
4,668 |
2,278 |
29,014 |
|
Grand Total |
139,050 |
69,145 |
76,780 |
57,409 |
20,101 |
21,325 |
6,767 |
390,577 |
85. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason this Deputy's request to restore the State pension (transition) has been refused, as the least the Government should do is increase the amount of jobseeker's benefit to be equal to the contributory State pension for persons aged 65 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53274/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provides that state pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This will begin in 2014 with the abolition of the state pension (transition) thereby standardising state pension age for all at 66 years. The state pension age will be further increased to 67 years in 2021 and to 68 years in 2028. These changes apply to all fully insured employees. Raising State pension age and the abolition of the State pension (transition) is a necessary step in ensuring the sustainability of pensions into the future. The recently published OECD report on the Review of the Irish Pension System confirms that reforms are necessary if we are to continue to put pension provision on a sustainable footing given the changes in demographics, the deficit in the Social Insurance Fund, and the difficult fiscal situation.
Where individuals exit the workforce prior to pension age they may seek the support of either the jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance schemes. Jobseeker's benefit is a weekly payment to people out of work and covered by social insurance and legislation provides that, subject to the person having paid 156 or more qualifying contributions and satisfying the general scheme conditions, a person whose benefit expires in their 65th year will continue to be paid benefit up until the age of 66. On this basis, workers who suffer a substantial loss of employment at age 65 will generally be able to claim jobseeker’s benefit for the full year to age 66 provided they have paid at least 156 qualifying contributions. Jobseeker’s benefit is a substantial support to persons suffering the contingency of involuntary unemployment. Changes to rates of jobseeker’s benefit would be a matter for Government to consider in a Budgetary context and there are no plans in this regard at present.
86. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of applicants refused a social welfare payment who do not go to the social welfare appeals office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53278/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is not available. My staff have provided statistics on the number of claim disallowances and appeals lodged for the first ten months of 2013 in the attached table for the main Departmental schemes. I am however informed that appeals lodged are not solely in respect of disallowance of a claim for a social welfare payment but may arise on foot of a means test which involves a reduction in payment but does not result in payment ceasing as well as conditionality appeals. There may also be timing differences between the appeals and claim processing statistics, and thus the calculation the Deputy has requested cannot be derived based on these statistics.
Disallowances and Appeals Lodged
January - October 2013
|
Scheme |
Rejected |
Appeals Lodged |
|
State Pension Contributory (Total) |
6,594 |
118 |
|
State Pension Non-Contributory |
1,984 |
229 |
|
State Pension Transition (Total) |
7,406 |
36 |
|
Bereavement Grant (Sligo & Longford) |
2,055 |
62 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit |
4,339 |
754 |
|
Jobseeker's Allowance |
15,806 |
4,659 |
|
One-Parent Family Payment |
1,173 |
548 |
|
Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension |
1,070 |
34 |
|
Maternity Benefit |
1,160 |
21 |
|
Treatment Benefit |
23,485 |
3 |
|
Disability Allowance |
12,459 |
5,766 |
|
Illness Benefit |
31,962 |
1,456 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
7,335 |
4,027 |
|
Carer's Allowance |
8,917 |
3,426 |
|
Occupational Injury Benefit |
899 |
17 |
|
Child Benefit (Domestic, FRA and EU) |
985 |
541 |
|
Family Income Supplement |
11,093 |
351 |
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance |
2,200 |
1,523 |
|
Partial Capacity Benefit |
N/A |
63 |
|
Carer's Benefit |
507 |
102 |
|
Disablement Benefit |
330 |
301 |
|
Blind Persons Pension |
81 |
29 |
