Written Answers Nos. 191-208
192. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on an application for domiciliary care allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4578/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on 8 December 2014. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 10 weeks to process an application for DCA.
193. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons under 25 years of age who are on an age-related social welfare payments, with a breakdown by the number in each year of age. [4601/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe only Working Age scheme with a specified differential rate of payment for those under 25 is Jobseekers’ Allowance. A breakdown of the number of recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance under the age of 25 as at 31 December 2014 by age is detailed in the following tabular statement.
Number of Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance aged under 25 as at 1 December 2014.
|
Age |
Number of Recipients |
|
18 |
3,486 |
|
19 |
5,244 |
|
20 |
5,598 |
|
21 |
5,622 |
|
22 |
6,177 |
|
23 |
7,099 |
|
24 |
7,566 |
|
Total |
40,792 |
194. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the grounds on which a new rent supplement form is required in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4606/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt was brought to the attention of the Department by the Deputy in Parliamentary Question No 63 of 27 November 2014 that the client concerned was seeking an increase in Rent Supplement as rent was being increased from €700 to €800 per month. Subsequently the client was requested to provide the Department with an up to date Rent Supplement application form and lease agreement that would confirm this increase in monthly rent and allow the Department to reassess clients entitlement accordingly. This documentation was not received by the Department. In Parliamentary question No 57 of 22 January 2015 the Deputy again enquired if increased Rent Supplement could be granted as client's rent had been increased to €800 per month. As the previously requested documentation had not been received by the Department the Deputy was advised again that on receipt of same the client's rate of Rent Supplement could be assessed. On 27 January 2015 the Department received an up to date lease agreement from the Deputy for the client concerned. This 12-month lease agreement signed by the client and landlord and dated 14 December 2014 confirmed client's rent remains €700 per calendar month. The Department now notes that the Deputy states that client's rent has been increased to €750 per month. The Department will now seek to clarify with the client that this is correct and request the necessary documentation required.
195. Deputy Frank Feighan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason elderly persons living here who are in receipt of a United Kingdom pension are discriminated against by not being entitled to a living alone allowance, in view of the fact that this is not a means-tested benefit. [4612/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraExpenditure on pensions is the largest block of expenditure in the Department, representing about a third of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes the Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year. Accordingly, the overall concern of the Government in Budget 2015 and previous Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates.
The living alone allowance is an increase of €9.00 per week to the rate of certain social welfare payments, including State pensions, made to people living alone. It is considered secondary, rather than primary, in nature.
As the increase is not a payment in its own right but an increase to an Irish social welfare payment, it cannot be paid to people who are not in receipt of such a payment in the first place.
There are no plans to change the rules or nature of this allowance. In relation to those receiving payments exclusively from other countries, the needs of older people are often provided for in different ways by these countries. While the Irish system provides a basic pension, supplemented by allowances and other benefits, the approach adopted by other countries can be very different, with each country providing for the needs of older people in the way it sees fit. The fact that a living alone allowance is not paid by another administration merely reflects a different approach to providing for the needs of older people.
It is, of course, open to recipients of pensions from other countries to apply for pensions under the Irish system and they can do this in a number of ways. Those with a mixture of social insurance contributions from this country, other EU countries or from countries with which Ireland has reciprocal agreements, may qualify for a pro-rata contributory pension. Alternatively, they may qualify for a non-contributory pension if they can satisfy a means test. Improvements made to the income disregard in recent years have made it easier for people to qualify for a pension and receive the additional support provided under our pension system for those who live alone.
196. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person in receipt of carer's benefit and working 15 hours per week is entitled to be paid for public holidays under the Organisation of Working Time Act, for example, if that person can receive payment for a public holiday that is not a normally scheduled working day for that person; if that person will exceed the threshold of 15 hours per week working; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4620/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhere a carer receives a paid public holiday for a day which is not a normal scheduled working day, s/he is not considered to have exceeded the 15 hour threshold for the purposes of qualifying for Carer’s Benefit.
The Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation has responsibility for the operation of the legislation to which the deputy refers and has advised that in relation to public holidays that, during an absence on carer’s leave, an employee can benefit from public holiday entitlements for the first 13 weeks of the leave (under Section 13(3) of the Carer’s Leave Act 2001). This entitlement is not conditional on the employee having worked during those 13 weeks. After the 13-week period referred to in Section 13(3) of the Carer’s Leave Act, the general rules regarding public holidays, set out in Sections 21 and 22 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, apply to employees on Carer’s Leave. Section 21(4) of the 1997 Act provides that a part-time employee must have worked at least 40 hours for their employer during the 5-week period ending on the day before the public holiday to qualify for the public holiday entitlement. Public holiday entitlement can take the form of whichever of the following the employer determines: (a) A paid day off on the public holiday (if the public holiday falls on a day that the employee normally works) (b) A paid day off within a month of that day (c) An additional day of annual leave (d) An additional day’s pay Calculation of pay for public holiday entitlement is determined by S.I. No. 475/1997 – Organisation of Working Time (Determination of Pay for Holidays) Regulations 1997.
200. Deputy Michael P. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if persons with cystic fibrosis in receipt of disability allowance are allowed an easing of means-testing if, in the event of marriage, there are changes to their circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4720/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provisions governing the assessment of means for disability allowance (DA) purposes are contained in Part 1 & 2 of Schedule 3 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005.
Where a person is married, the means of the spouse are taken into account as well as the claimant's own means. All DA recipients are treated equally in relation to this provision, regardless of their specific medical condition or illness.
201. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide assurance that there are no plans to abolish the free travel passes for companions of the elderly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4735/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are currently approximately 800,000 people in Ireland in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million per annum. The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66 must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme. The qualifying payments for those aged under 66 are invalidity pension, blind pension, disability allowance, carer’s allowance or an equivalent social security payment from a country covered by EC Regulations or one with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement.
I am pleased to note that in its recent “Statement of Government Priorities, 2014-2016” the Government committed itself to the full retention of the free travel scheme.
202. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons on the JobBridge programme as at 28 January 2015; the number of persons on community employment schemes, rural social schemes and any other job activation or social welfare schemes which remove persons from the live register, broken down by each scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4741/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following table shows the current placement figures as of the specified dates:
|
Programme/Scheme |
Current Participants |
Effective Date (most recent available) |
|
JobBridge |
6,220 participants |
29/01/2015 |
|
Community Employment |
24,089 participants and supervisors |
02/02/2015 |
|
Rural Social Scheme |
2,572 Participants |
29/01/2015 |
|
Tús |
7,865 Participants |
29/01/2015 |
|
Gateway |
1,781 Participants |
29/01/2015 |
|
Back to work enterprise Allowance |
11,167 Participants |
31/12/2014 |
|
Short Term enterprise Allowance |
479 Participants |
31/12/2014 |
|
CSP |
2,800 Participants |
31/12/2014 |
203. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if a person aged over 55 years who commenced a community employment scheme in April 2013, having spent 156 weeks in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment, can spend a maximum of six years of participation on a community employment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4742/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraA person aged over 55 years and who commenced a community employment (CE) scheme in April 2013 (having no previous CE participation since April 2000) and having spent 156 continuous weeks in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment can spend a maximum of six years of participation on a CE scheme, subject to the availability of a place and budgetary constraints.
204. Deputy James Bannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Longford will receive notification from the social welfare appeals office regarding their current appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4780/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 21 January 2015. 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.
205. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to IT difficulties being experienced in the Dublin office of the registrar of births; if these IT difficulties have resulted in difficulties for clients in obtaining certificates (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4785/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Registrar General is responsible for the management and control of the Civil Registration Service. This includes the provision and maintenance of the Civil Registration Computer System.
Prior to December 2014 the Managed Services required to support the Civil Registration Computer System was provided by an external service provider at a substantial cost to the taxpayer. In 2014 it was decided to transfer these services into the Department as it had the capacity and expertise necessary to provide these services and such transfer would result in a significant saving to the taxpayer.
This project involved the development and configuration of a new matrix system and the transfer of all data from the external service provider. The services were transferred into the Department in early December 2014.
Following the transfer there were a small number of outages on the system resulting in the system being unavailable for short periods of time. The causes of the outages have been investigated and some have been resolved. Work is on-going to resolve any outstanding issues and the Department is continuing to monitor the system to ensure that any further issues that may arise as a result of this complex development are quickly identified and resolved.
There are manual fall back procedures in place in all Civil Registration Offices which allow the registrar to proceed with registrations in the event that the computer system is not available.
It is unfortunate that a number of people have been inconvenienced by these problems. Any of the persons affected may contact the General Register Office and that Office will be happy to resolve any outstanding issues.
206. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the status, for social welfare purposes, of ESB meter readers; if they are considered self-employed or sub-contractors by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4787/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis matter is the subject of ongoing investigation in my Department.
It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the likely outcome of these investigations at this stage.
208. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the weekly amount by which repayment of overpayment in the period January 2013 to May 2014 in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who is unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4807/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department has no record of overpayment deductions for this client as information required to determine and process a possible overpayment remains outstanding. The Department will now correspond again with the client to request the outstanding information. If no reply is received the Department will progress the overpayment process based on information to hand.
