Written Answers Nos. 221-240
222. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Social Protection the way payment will apply for rent supplement after the roll-out of the housing assistance payment in regard to paying the recipient or the landlord; her views on the reason it is necessary to have two forms of assistance in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27819/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has provided over €344 million for the rent supplement scheme in 2014, the purpose of which is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. The overall aim is to provide short-term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 76,000 rent supplement recipients, of whom over 50,000 have been in payment for more than 18 months. Officials in the Department are working with those in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, to progress the transfer of those customers with long-term housing needs from this Department to the local authorities under the new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). HAP is designed to bring all long-term social housing services provided by the State together under the local authority system to provide a more integrated and streamlined service for households and to give local authorities greater flexibility to provide assistance to those in need of social housing support. One of the key benefits that HAP will bring is the removal of barriers for people currently in receipt of rent supplement in returning to employment which is consistent with the Government's commitments under the Pathways to Work programme. When fully rolled out, the HAP scheme will accommodate both long term customers currently on the rent supplement scheme and also new applicants who have been assessed by the local authority as having a housing need. Rent supplement will continue to be paid to clients who are already in the private rented sector but who, generally because of a loss of income through unemployment, require short term income support in order to pay their rent. These applicants would not normally require an assessment of housing need and the expectation would be that a return to employment would obviate the need for long term housing support.
Rent supplement will therefore, over time, return to its original intention of being a short-term payment rather than providing for a longer term housing need. There are no plans to amend the existing payment arrangements under the rent supplement scheme, for what will effectively be required to address a short term need.
I am satisfied that there is a requirement for the operation of both schemes, with HAP providing for customers long term housing needs and rent supplement to provide short term income support.
223. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a domiciliary care allowance application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [27829/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned was notified on the 25th June 2014 that her domiciliary care allowance application was successful and that the allowance has been awarded from 1st May 2014.
Payment of the allowance, along with arrears due, will be available in the nominated bank account on the 15th July 2014 and on the third Tuesday of each month thereafter.
224. Deputy Heather Humphreys asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue on a farm assist appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27906/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to convene an oral hearing in this case.
Every effort will be made to hear the case as quickly as possible and the appellant will be informed when arrangements for the oral hearing have been made.
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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
225. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a living alone allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; if the living alone allowance will be backdated to the date of entitlement. [27907/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned applied on 17 February 2014 for an increase for living alone on his State pension contributory (SPC). The increase was awarded with effect from 23 September 2013.
Under social welfare legislation, where an application for contributory pension, or any increase payable thereon, is received on or after 6 April 2012 the maximum backdating period allowable is six months. Further backdating can be considered in circumstances where the failure to make an application arises as a result of incorrect information provided by the Department, or where the delay in applying arises as a result of the claimant’s incapacity by illness or infirmity.
228. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Social Protection if persons in receipt of fuel allowance who only have oil heating may receive their payments in two lump sum payments rather than €20 per week. [28037/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe national fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare with meeting the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating expenses. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Fuel allowance is currently paid at €20 per week during the winter season. Some 410,000 customers receive the fuel allowance at an annual cost of €208 million. The allowance is subject to a means test and is paid only to those who live alone or with certain exempted people.
The issue of paying the fuel allowance as a lump sum has been examined and it could create a number of difficulties for recipients. In particular, if the payment were given in advance as a lump sum, there could be significant over-payments if a recipient’s circumstances were to change during the payment season. If it were paid in arrears, it obviously would create further budgeting difficulties for individuals and their families.
Many energy companies, including oil suppliers, provide budget facilities for making payment by monthly instalment over a period of time which allows people to plan and budget for fuel expenses. I am satisfied that this arrangement is sufficient to meet the needs of customers.
229. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a domiciliary care allowance application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [28041/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 17 June 2014. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Upon receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 10 to 12 weeks to process an application for DCA.
230. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will engage with voluntary youth organisations in the roll-out of the Youth Guarantee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28057/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn order to develop and implement a Youth Guarantee Plan, the Department of Social Protection set up an interdepartmental Youth Guarantee Implementation Group with officials and programme managers from the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The terms of reference for this group were to review the current range of youth employment services in Ireland, to assess what measures are appropriate to deliver the Youth Guarantee in Ireland and to develop the implementation plan for approval of Government and transmission to the EU.
In addition, in order to get non-governmental input into the Youth Guarantee implementation plan the Department of Social Protection held a YG stakeholders’ consultation forum in October. The DSP invited further submissions from the bodies that attended.
A number of submissions were received, including submissions from The National Youth Council of Ireland, Spunout.ie, Youthwork Ireland, Tipperary Regional Youth Service, Wexford Youth Action and the YMCA. These submissions will be taken into consideration during the rollout of the Youth Guarantee Process.
In addition the Department retained the OECD to provide input and advice on the framing of the plan (the OECD is also providing assistance to a number of other countries). As part of this process a delegation from the OECD met with stakeholders at the aforementioned forum as well as with a range of relevant public bodies. Ultimately stakeholder feedback via the forum, submissions and bilateral meetings with the OECD has fed into the design of the national YG implementation plan.
The Youth Guarantee Implementation plan specifically states that the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) along with other national partners will be invited to participate in the delivery and/or review of the Youth Guarantee.
The Ballymun Pilot Youth Guarantee scheme has strong involvement from the voluntary youth sector in its implementation. The youth sector is represented on the both the National Steering Group (National Youth Council of Ireland) and the Local Implementation Group (Ballymun Regional Youth Resource). The lessons learned from this pilot will feed into the national rollout of the Guarantee.
As the Guarantee is rolled out, the specific local arrangements for involvement of partners, including youth organisations will be a matter for divisional and regional management in the Department of social Protection. In particular, where there are indications that any significant groups of young people will not be reached by the PES (Intreo office), alternative ways of reaching these young people through Youth Work approaches will be explored.
231. Deputy Ann Phelan asked the Minister for Social Protection following the successful introduction of the pilot project in Ballymun of the Youth Guarantee scheme, if there is a timeline in place to establish such a scheme in a rural constituency; the supports that will be put in place to enable young persons to access these schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28061/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Youth Guarantee will be run on a national basis. The Ballymun Pilot is being mainly funded by the European Commission. Such specific funding for other pilot programmes is not available. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Department will operate a specific scheme for each of its 60+ local offices. However there will be flexibility to tailor the implementation to local conditions (for example with regard to the cohorts of young people to be selected for engagement in the first instance etc.) and the specific approach to be followed in each area, be it rural or local, will be a matter for local DSP management in consultation with relevant stakeholders. It is intended that the approach in other areas will however benefit from the lessons learned during the Ballymun pilot. In particular, it is intended, that local employment initiatives will be driven by local employer groups, local DSP/Intreo staff, local community groups and local training providers working collaboratively, as in Ballymun, to tailor the approach to their local circumstances.
233. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the funds available to support voluntarily-run food kitchens; if there is a grant system in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28076/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra236. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has now taken over the previous responsibilities of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with regard to the distribution of food to charities here; the timetable in place to distribute the food; the way this process will be managed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28152/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 233 and 236 together.
The Most Deprived Scheme has been managed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for a number of years. Some 563 charities participated in the scheme in the past year and were able to avail of cheese, rice and butter. The scheme has been discontinued from this year given the lack of intervention and surplus food stocks across the EU. In March of the year, the European Council and Parliament agreed a regulation to introduce a new Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) to support the provision of food and consumer products for people who are most deprived. The Fund will contribute to the reduction of poverty by supporting national schemes that provide non-financial assistance to alleviate food and severe material deprivation.
The Department of Social Protection has been tasked with implementing this new EU co-funded programme. When operational later this year, it is expected that this Fund, of which Ireland will receive approximately €3 million per annum, will be able to support voluntary and other bodies working with and providing services to those most in need of support. The regulation governing the operation of the Fund allow for food and non-food consumable goods to be distributed to persons who are most disadvantaged. This programme will be broader in focus than that operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
With respect to funding available to voluntary organisation providing food services, the Department can support such operations by way of labour input under its range of work placement and training programmes (such as community employment, Tús and the rural social scheme). No direct funding is provided.
234. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if an application for carer's allowance under appeal will be expedited and approved in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [28081/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 6 May 2014. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral appeal hearing.
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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
235. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Sligo working in her Department will have their transfer request to County Sligo sanctioned following a considerable wait; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28140/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department is required to operate within an Employment Control Framework, as determined by the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform. In this regard, only critical posts that arise may be filled.
Where a post is to be filled, the Department is obliged in the first instance in accordance with D/PER policy, to fill the post by way of the redeployment of staff from the Resource Panels which are administered by the Public Appointments Service. Where there is no one available from the redeployment process the Department may then refer to the relevant transfer list.
The person concerned is currently 11th on the transfer list for Sligo. All those placed ahead of her on the list must be considered before her, in the event that a post falls to be filled by way of a transfer. However, there are currently no critical posts to be filled in Sligo at Clerical Officer level at this time and none are anticipated in the short-term.
237. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a widow's pension appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28156/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 26 June 2014. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral appeal hearing.
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 in relation to social welfare entitlements.
238. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount of funding that has been allocated for exceptional needs payments in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; if her attention has been drawn to a problem which arises in isolated rural areas where persons are now being refused assistance for taxi fares for essential medical appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28213/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €31.3 million for the ENP scheme in 2014. Expenditure on the scheme from 2011 is provided in the attached tabular statement. There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. ENP’s are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance. The ENP scheme is not intended to cover circumstances where responsibility for the expenditure or payment rests with another Government Department or Agency. Responsibility for patient transport is generally a matter for the Health Service Executive.
If the Deputy has a particular case of hardship, he should forward the details to the Department for review.
Expenditure on Exceptional Needs Payments from 2011-2013
|
Year |
Expenditure |
|
2011 |
€62.6 million |
|
2012 |
€52.7 million |
|
2013 |
€36.7 million |
239. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will be made on a farm assist review in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of the fact that this matter has been ongoing since 2011. [28234/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned is in receipt of farm assist at the weekly rate of €209.60.
Following a request for a review of entitlement a decision was given maintaining his existing entitlement. The person concerned subsequently appealed this decision. As part of the appeal process, the Deciding Officer is required to prepare an appeal submission. The appeal is now being finalised as a matter of urgency to allow a decision to be made by the independent Social Welfare Appeals office.
240. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons, broken down by administrative division and by age group, currently in receipt of jobseeker's allowance who have not, to date, made any PRSI contribution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28236/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is not routinely collated by my Department. I am, however, informed that at the end of May 2014 there were 34,521 persons currently in receipt of jobseeker's allowance who have not, to date, made any PRSI contribution. This analysis includes contributions under PRSI classes J and S (low income and self-employed workers) recorded since 2005 which were not available for analysis previously supplied to the Deputy. The analysis does not include class J and S contributions prior to 2005 and also does not include pre-79 social insurance contributions. A tabular statement breaking this number down by age and administrative area is attached.
Jobseeker's Assistance recipients at 27 May 2014 who have not made any contribution to the PRSI system (class A contributions and class J and S contributions since 2005).
|
Administrative District |
Under 20 |
20-24 |
25-34 |
35-44 |
45-54 |
55-59 |
60-65 |
Grand Total |
|
Cork Central |
316 |
701 |
353 |
222 |
149 |
70 |
55 |
1,866 |
|
Dublin Central |
540 |
849 |
542 |
442 |
274 |
64 |
84 |
2,795 |
|
Dublin North |
789 |
1,001 |
446 |
349 |
173 |
52 |
45 |
2,855 |
|
Dublin South |
745 |
1,057 |
511 |
397 |
218 |
45 |
41 |
3,014 |
|
Mid Leinster |
603 |
967 |
396 |
216 |
138 |
48 |
60 |
2,428 |
|
Mid West |
494 |
859 |
419 |
275 |
196 |
71 |
75 |
2,389 |
|
Midlands North |
783 |
1,362 |
604 |
323 |
303 |
92 |
105 |
3,572 |
|
Midlands South |
677 |
1,107 |
499 |
263 |
222 |
72 |
60 |
2,900 |
|
North East |
481 |
934 |
438 |
286 |
186 |
73 |
72 |
2,470 |
|
North West |
417 |
821 |
412 |
332 |
295 |
154 |
154 |
2,585 |
|
South East |
652 |
1,008 |
538 |
314 |
253 |
99 |
86 |
2,950 |
|
South West |
338 |
689 |
332 |
223 |
207 |
80 |
93 |
1,962 |
|
West |
393 |
952 |
528 |
351 |
266 |
112 |
133 |
2,735 |
|
Totals |
7,228 |
12,307 |
6,018 |
3,993 |
2,880 |
1,032 |
1,063 |
34,521 |
