Written Answers Nos. 1-39
9. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will report on the timeframe for processing appeals relating to family income supplement and one-parent family payments; the options or bridging payments that will be available to those who find themselves in a situation where they are awaiting an appeal when their payment is stopped; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17278/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe annual report of the Social Welfare Appeals Office was published last month and shows that the total number of appeals on hands for all schemes at the end of 2014 continued to fall to just over 9,600 or a reduction of 35% year on year.
I am advised by the Appeals Office that the current average time taken to decide family income supplement appeals decided on a summary basis is 20.7 weeks and 25.5 weeks for oral hearing, down from peaks of 30.7 weeks and 41 weeks, respectively, in 2013.
The corresponding current average processing times for one parent family appeals is 27 weeks and 38.5 weeks respectively, down, in the case of oral appeals, from 57.5 weeks in 2011.
Processing times are calculated from the appeal registration date to the date of finalisation. This includes time spent awaiting clarification from the appellant and time in the Department for review and preparation of its appeal submission. The system is flexible and accessible and allows multiple reviews and submissions of fresh evidence at all stages. For logistical reasons the process takes longer when an oral hearing is required.
Significant effort and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeals process to manage the significant increase in its workload since 2009, while, at the same time, ensuring that quality and fairness are not compromised. In addition to the introduction of a new operating model, the appeals officer cadre increased to 41 officers in the last four years.
Any person whose means are insufficient to meet their needs while awaiting an appeal decision may apply for supplementary welfare allowance. This means-tested payment is the “safety net” within the welfare system providing assistance to eligible people in the State. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance to persons in need who do not qualify for social welfare payments under any other scheme.
10. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons employed on Gateway schemes by local authorities; and if she will provide a breakdown of the number, for each county and city council. [15621/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, Gateway is a County and City Council work scheme which aims to provide short-term quality and suitable work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than 24 months. Participants benefit by being involved in work. They improve their work readiness and are able to apply their existing skills and learn new ones. The scheme is also intended to assist the personal and social development of participants with the objective of bridging the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce.
Funding of the order of €22.4m is being provided in the Department's Vote in 2015 to cover placements under the scheme.
Gateway was introduced in line with the commitments set out in the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work and the overall aim is to provide 3,000 work placement opportunities. While progress was initially slow, I am delighted to confirm that over 70% of the placements available have now been taken up. As of Friday, 24th April, there were nearly 2,100 participants on the scheme and I want to commend all the local authorities for the work they have done in getting the scheme up and running over the past few months.
The number of participants on the Gateway scheme in each city and county council as of 24th April last is set out in a table.
|
County/City Council |
Participants on Gateway for week ended 24/04/15 |
|
Carlow Co Co |
41 |
|
Cavan Co Co |
27 |
|
Clare Co Co |
45 |
|
Cork City Co |
104 |
|
Cork Co Co |
158 |
|
Donegal Co Co |
26 |
|
Fingal Co Co |
206 |
|
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Co |
70 |
|
Dublin City Co |
42 |
|
Galway City Co |
38 |
|
Galway Co Co |
57 |
|
Kerry Co Co |
69 |
|
Kildare Co Co |
51 |
|
Kilkenny Co Co |
44 |
|
Laois Co Co |
29 |
|
Leitrim Co Co |
45 |
|
Limerick Co Co |
109 |
|
Longford Co Co |
5 |
|
Louth Co Co |
73 |
|
Meath Co Co |
110 |
|
Monaghan Co Co |
46 |
|
Mayo Co Co |
92 |
|
Offaly Co Co |
48 |
|
Roscommon Co Co |
52 |
|
Sligo Co Co |
35 |
|
South Dublin Co Co |
153 |
|
Tipperary Co Co |
56 |
|
Waterford |
80 |
|
Westmeath Co Co |
78 |
|
Wexford Co Co |
28 |
|
Wicklow Co Co |
76 |
|
Total |
2,093 |
11. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the options available to lone parents facing transition into jobseeker's benefit this year, who, if they are unable to afford child care, must drop their children to school and collect them, and cannot leave them to attend training or other supports due to expensive child care costs; if she will introduce increased access to online training and education supports for persons exiting the one-parent family payment, in view of the fact that many are still the primary carers of their children and are unable to afford child care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17345/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is expected that in July the majority of lone parents who make the transition from the one-parent family payment to a jobseeker's payment will be eligible for the jobseeker's transitional payment as their youngest child will be under 14 years of age.
The jobseeker's transitional payment exempts lone parents from the normal jobseeker's conditionality of having to be available for and genuinely seeking full time employment. The jobseeker's transitional payment also enables a lone parent to work part time without restriction, provided they satisfy the means test and to participate in education while receiving this payment. This allows these customers to balance their caring responsibilities while supporting them to engage in employment or education should they wish to participate.
Recipients of the jobseeker's transitional payment can also apply for the SUSI grant and, if eligible, this grant is not assessed as means by the department providing the maximum benefit to customers from that financial support which may help towards childcare costs.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs provides subsidised childcare for customers on Solas or education and training boards courses under the childcare education and training support programme.
The Department of Education and Skills provide a wide range of flexible education and training options including online options. Online courses delivered by Solas are designed to give a flexible response to the specific skills needs of individuals who require training interventions with certification to assist them to re-enter the labour market. Courses are available free of charge to unemployed clients.
12. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in view of the fact that Ireland is behind on European Union poverty reduction targets, the measures her Department will take to close this gap by the end of the term of this Government. [17320/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Irish contribution to Europe 2020 poverty target is to reduce by a minimum of 200,000 the population in 'combined poverty' (i.e. either consistent poverty, at-risk-of-poverty or basic deprivation) between 2010 and 2020.
In 2013, the at-risk-of-poverty rate fell from 16.5% to 15.2%, the first reduction in three years. In comparative terms, Ireland is below the EU average and ranks 8th lowest of the 28 EU member states.
A key reason for Ireland's low rate of income poverty is the redistributive impact of social transfers. In 2013, social transfers lifted almost a quarter of the population out of at-risk-of-poverty. Ireland is among the best performing EU member states in its policy efforts to alleviate poverty according to Eurostat data.
In Budget 2015, the Government provided an additional €160 million for welfare measures to support families and the most vulnerable. A social impact assessment of the Budget, including the water charges, found that for the first time since the economic crisis, welfare and income tax policy will result in an increase in average household incomes of 0.7% (equivalent of almost €6 per week).
Growing employment and providing the supports needed through activation to get people back to work will have a direct impact on poverty. Through Pathways to Work and the Action Plan on Jobs, the Government is putting people into real jobs. I am confident that Government policies, as set out in the Spring Economic Statement, will continue to improve income and living standards.
13. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures her Department has taken in helping persons on support schemes such as illness benefit or disability allowance to re-enter the workforce; if supports will take into account the trial and error nature of returning to a different role or a different job; her views on the genuine concerns that people will not be able to access social welfare supports, should initial efforts to return to employment fail; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17280/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department is committed to providing a range of supports and measures to encourage and facilitate people with disabilities to avail of employment opportunities.
For people who are in receipt of invalidity pension or illness benefit for a minimum of six months, the partial capacity benefit scheme, which was introduced in 2012, provides an opportunity to take up employment and continue to receive an ongoing portion of the weekly social welfare payment, including any increase being paid in respect of a qualified adult or qualified children. There are currently over 1,400 participants on the scheme with a budget of over €11.5 million for 2015.
The partial capacity benefit explicitly recognises and responds to the reality that some people with disabilities will have a capacity to engage in open market employment while continuing to require some income support from the State. The objective of the scheme is to incentivise such people to return to the workplace without fear of loss of their disability related social welfare benefits. If a person becomes unable to continue in employment, s/he may at any time revert to the full rate of illness benefit/invalidity pension, provided the qualifying conditions for that scheme continue to be satisfied.
Moreover, some people with a disability in receipt of social welfare income supports can work and retain a portion of their payment. For example, if a person's doctor recommends that the work is of a rehabilitative or therapeutic nature, recipients of disability allowance (DA) can work and earn €120 per week without affecting the rate of DA being paid, while if the weekly earnings are between €120 and €350, fifty per cent of the earnings will be disregarded in the DA means test.
While I appreciate concerns expressed on this matter, I can assure the Deputy that while the Department is conscious of the need to facilitate people with disabilities moving into employment where possible, access to social welfare supports will continue to be available should efforts to return to employment not work out.
14. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of determination orders issued by the maintenance recovery unit of her Department that will be invalid after 2 July 2015; the financial loss to her Department; the reason this was not catered for in the legislation for jobseeker's transitional payment; in view of financial cuts to working lone parents, the reason her Department is now failing to pursue liable relatives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17334/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe issue of maintenance payments is first and foremost a private matter for the persons concerned, and if they cannot resolve the problem, for the courts through family law provisions.
The liability to maintain family provisions, contained in social welfare legislation, are separate to family law legislation. In every case where a one parent family payment (OFP) is awarded, the Department seeks to trace the other parent (liable relative) in order to ascertain whether he/she is in a financial position to contribute towards the cost of the OFP.
The issuing of a maintenance contribution assessment under the social welfare legislation does not alter an individual's obligation to discharge maintenance payments pursuant to an order of the Court.
A liable relative is given the option to commence making payments to the OFP recipient or directly to the Department.
In 2014, the Department issued 2,586 determination orders for maintenance. As a result of the impending transfer of claimants from OFP to jobseekers transitional payments (JST), 134 of those determination orders issued to liable relatives in 2014 will no longer have a liability to the scheme from June 2015. This represents approximately 5% of the determination orders issued in 2014. As indicated at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection on 18th February, where this matter was also raised, my Department is aware of this issue and will be considering an amendment to the JST arrangements in the future to pursue these liable relatives.
15. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she has undertaken analysis of the impact of changes to section 50 of the Pensions Acts allowing trustees to reduce payments to pensioners. [17327/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 50 of the Pensions Act was amended in 2009 and again in 2013. These changes were designed to spread the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme members and beneficiaries in any consideration of an application by the trustees of the scheme to restructure scheme benefits. It is a matter for the trustees of a scheme, who are required under trust law to act in the best interests of all scheme members, to determine how the provisions in section 50 of the Act might be applied.
The most recent analysis was carried out in November 2014 and indicates that over the period since 2009, there were 106 applications made by the trustees of a defined benefit pensions schemes to the Pensions Authority to restructure scheme benefits. 78% of these applications related to an adjustment to post retirement increases in benefits; 8% did not impact on the benefits of existing pensioners; the remaining 14% of applications adjusted the normal pension age or the lump sum at retirement. In one case the core pensioner benefits were reduced.
At end of 2014, there were 778 active defined benefit pension schemes subject to the funding requirements of the Pensions Act. The application of section 50 impacted on less than 14% of these schemes.
While I will continue to monitor the application of section 50 of the Pensions Act on an ongoing basis, I expect that the measures I have put in place will support schemes achieve a sustainable position and decrease the likelihood of recourse to its provisions.
16. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of part-time workers in receipt of family income supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17325/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe family income supplement (FIS) is an in-work income support for employees on low earnings who have families and who otherwise might be at risk of financial poverty. FIS also preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming social welfare.
At the end of March 2015, there were 50,452 families including 111,693 children in receipt of FIS. Expenditure on FIS for 2014 was of the order of €297.7 million in respect of some 50,300 families. The estimated expenditure for 2015 is expected to be €349.2million. The number of families in receipt of FIS increased by 13% between the end of 2013 and the end of 2014 – from 44,159 families to 49,860 families.
The Department does not maintain statistics in relation to the number of hours worked by each individual adult who is part of a family in receipt of FIS. To qualify for payment of FIS, a person must be engaged in full-time insurable employment which is expected to last for at least 3 months and be working for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week. A couple may combine their hours of employment to meet the qualification criteria. Furthermore, the average family income must be below a specified amount which varies according to the number of qualified children in the family.
New claims for FIS and annual renewals continue to be processed without delay. Creating jobs and reducing unemployment are key challenges facing the Government. The tax and social protection systems have a part to play in addressing these issues and in ensuring work pays. In this regard, the department is carrying out a focused policy assessment of FIS examining the role of in-work benefits in supporting people to move from welfare to work.
17. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in view of her acknowledgement of over 4,000 individually renegotiated rent supplement cases, her views on whether there is a need to examine some sort of rent management to try and combat the current housing crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17284/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFundamentally, the main cause of rising rents is a lack of supply in the market which Government is addressing through the Construction 2020 Strategy and the Social Housing Strategy. The time-lag in terms of ramping up supply to match demand is fuelling an increase in rents, especially in Dublin and the major cities. Policy in relation to rent controls is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, who is considering a number of policy options in relation to achieving greater rent certainty. The Government's objective is to achieve stability and sustainability in the market for the benefit of tenants, landlords and society as a whole.
In relation to the rent supplement scheme administered by this Department, over 4,700 claims have been awarded to date in 2015. Officers administering the scheme will continue to provide for flexibility in assessing customers' accommodation needs through the National Tenancy Sustainment Framework. The Department is also working with Threshold's Tenancy Sustainment service in the Dublin and Cork city areas where supply is most acute. The primary objective of these initiatives is to ensure a speedy intervention for families at immediate risk of losing their tenancy through rising rents.
I am keeping this matter under review and am satisfied that this flexible approach is the appropriate response at this time which has assisted in excess of 1,500 rent supplement recipients to retain their rented accommodation through increased rent limits.
18. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on whether self-employed persons are treated equally in terms of claiming for social welfare payments in lieu of businesses not earning enough to survive; and her further views on whether there should be more incentives to grant social welfare payments to the self-employed when they are obliged to liquidate their business. [17283/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraSelf-employed workers may access social welfare supports by establishing eligibility to assistance-based payments such as jobseeker's allowance and disability allowance. In the case of jobseeker's allowance they can apply for the means-tested jobseeker's allowance if their business ceases or if they are on low income as a result of a downturn in demand for their services. In assessing means from self-employment, income from the previous twelve months is used as an indicator of likely future earnings. Given the variety of self-employment situations, the means assessment procedures are applied in a flexible manner to ensure that any circumstances that would be likely to lead to a significant variation, either upward or downward, in the level of a person's income from one year to the next are taken into consideration. It is recognised that the downturn in the economy had an impact on many self-employed persons and the consequent reduction in their income and activity levels. This may be reflected in any assessment of their means from self-employment for jobseeker's allowance purposes. As in the case of a non-self-employed claimant for jobseeker's allowance or disability allowance, the means of husband/wife, civil partner or co-habitant will be taken into account in deciding on entitlement to a payment.
In September 2013, I published the report of the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare on Extending Social Insurance Coverage for the self-employed. The Group was asked to examine and report on issues involved in extending social insurance coverage for self-employed people in order to establish whether or not such cover is feasible and financially sustainable, with the requirement that any proposals for change must be cost neutral.
The Group found that the current system of means tested jobseeker's allowance payments adequately provides cover to self-employed people for the risks associated with unemployment. In this context, the Group noted that almost 9 out of every 10 self-employed people who claimed the means tested jobseeker's allowance during the three-year period from 2009 to 2011 received payment. Consequently, the Group was not convinced that there was a need for the extension of social insurance for the self-employed to provide cover for jobseeker's benefit.
The Group also found that extending social insurance for the self-employed was warranted in cases related to long term sickness or injuries. To this end, the Group recommended that class S benefits should be extended to provide cover for people who are permanently incapable of work, because of a long-term illness or incapacity, through the invalidity pension and the partial capacity benefit schemes. The Group further recommended that the extension of social insurance in this regard should be on a compulsory basis and that the rate of contribution for class S should be increased by at least 1.5 percentage points.
This recommendation will require further consideration in conjunction with the findings of the most recent Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund which indicated that the self-employed achieve better value for money compared to the employed when the comparison includes both employer and employee contributions in respect of the employed person. The Actuarial Review found that the effective annual rate of contributions needed to provide the core full-rate State pension (contributory), currently available to self-employed contributors, is approximately 15%.
My colleagues in Government and I will continue to reflect on the findings of the Advisory Group on this issue and will consider the recommendations contained in the report taking into account future developments in terms of the budgetary and fiscal situation.
19. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will publish the minutes of meetings held between her Department and the Department of Finance pertaining to the universal retirement savings development group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12947/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn line with the Statement of Government Priorities, the Government recently decided to proceed with work to develop a roadmap for the introduction of a new, universal, supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme. The Universal Retirement Savings Group (URSG) has been established to consider the constituent factors involved in constructing an efficient and effective universal retirement savings system and to bring forward a recommendation in the form of a roadmap and estimated timeline for introduction.
Two meetings of the URSG have taken place to date. As the Group is managing the deliberative process which will underpin the development of the roadmap, material relating to deliberations will be available after it has been considered by Government.
The URSG consists of senior officials from a range of key Government departments and those public bodies with a particular responsibility and expertise in the area. Membership also includes international representatives from the UK's Department for Work and Pensions and the OECD who bring significant expertise in designing, delivering and assessing supplementary pension systems.
In undertaking specific or specialised areas of its work programme the Group will consult with, and invite submissions from, pension's experts external to the Group. This will include establishing reference groups to utilise expertise and facilitate input from various sectorial interests such as those from the pensions industry, representatives of employers, trade unions and consumer/interest groups. The consultation process will also include an open invitation for written submissions from any parties with an interest in this area.
20. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if the free travel companion pass for visually impaired children will be widened to include children with other physical or intellectual disabilities; if she will provide some form of concessionary travel scheme for children with other physical or intellectual disabilities who are under 16 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17250/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are currently approximately 800,000 people in Ireland in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million.
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.
There is a provision for free travel passes for visually impaired children who satisfy the medical conditions for the blind pension. The provision is a long standing one based on supports for the blind, including the blind pension, which predated other supports for people with disabilities.
Children with other disabilities may also qualify for the domiciliary care allowance. This is a monthly payment of €309.50 to the carer of a child with a disability.
Any decision to extend the free travel scheme to persons who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
21. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the steps she will take to ensure that all recipients of child benefit attend school up to 16 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17238/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraChild benefit is the main policy instrument for assisting families with the costs of raising children. It is a universal payment paid in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years, or to the age of 18 who are in full-time education or who have a disability. It is paid to over 615,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children, at a cost of €1.9 billion.
School attendance up to the age of 16 years is a statutory requirement under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000.
Consequently, all recipients of child benefit are legally required to attend school up to this age. There is a national monitoring system for statutory school attendance via the National Educational Welfare Board, which is now part of Tusla, the child and family agency. Policy responsibility for school attendance rests with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
For children over 16 years and less than 18 years, the continued payment of child benefit is dependent on the children attending school for these two years. Parents with children aged 16 and 17 years must return a form confirming school attendance, signed by their school, to the Department of Social Protection on an annual basis.
If the Deputy has specific concerns about school absenteeism, the competent authorities to address these are the National Educational Welfare Board/Child and Family Agency.
I am satisfied with the existing steps that require children in receipt of child benefit to attend school up to 16 and to 18 years of age under both education and social protection policies.
22. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her intention is to redirect any savings from cuts to her Department spend, in particular to one-parent family payments, to fund child care provision. [17319/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraChild care policy, including the delivery and/or expansion of child care services, is the responsibility of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (D/CYA).
The reforms to the OFP scheme have highlighted the need for additional child care supports to be available for lone parents who make the transition into employment. For that reason, the Department in conjunction with the D/CYA, introduced a range of measures in Budgets 2013 and 2014 to assist lone parents to enter or re-join the workforce – namely the after-school child care scheme and the community employment childcare programme. Both of these schemes were funded by my Department from savings from the child benefit scheme and are part of the 25,000 subsidised childcare places which the D/CYA fund for low income parents each year.
In Budget 2015 I introduced increases to the child benefit rate, as well as the new back to work family dividend (BTWFD), both of which are designed to provide some additional financial assistance to parents.
The D/CYA has also established an inter-Departmental group at senior level in order to carry out an economic and cost-benefit analysis of policies and future options for increasing the supply, accessibility, and affordability of quality child care, including early years and school-age care. This group is led by the D/CYA and includes representatives from a number of Departments including the Department of Social Protection (D/SP).
The Government's Spring Economic Statement acknowledges that a successful childcare policy helps people make the transition from welfare to employment. The interdepartmental group's report will be a key input in determining the future of childcare provision in Ireland. I look forward to reviewing the group's report and considering it with my Cabinet colleagues.
23. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she has considered increasing rent supplement or taking other measures to remedy the difficulties faced by persons in securing accommodation. [17330/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are approximately 70,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for in 2015.
The Department recently published a review of the maximum rent limits, “Maximum Rent Limit Analysis and Findings” on www.welfare.ie. The review finds that increasing rent limits at this time could potentially add to further rental inflation in an already distressed market, affecting not alone rent supplement recipients, but lower-income workers and students. The impact of increasing limits will yield only a very marginal increase in available supply for rent supplement recipients, if at all, with the only certainty that raising limits will increase costs disproportionately for the Exchequer with little or no new housing available.
The Department will instead continue to provide for flexibility in assessing customers' accommodation needs through the National Tenancy Sustainment Framework. The Department is also working with Threshold's Tenancy Sustainment service in the Dublin and Cork city areas where supply is most acute. The primary objective of these initiatives is to ensure a speedy intervention for families at immediate risk of losing their tenancy through rising rents.
I am keeping this matter under review and am satisfied that this approach is the appropriate response at this time which has assisted in excess of 1,500 rent supplement recipients to retain their rented accommodation.
Government is addressing the supply issue through the Construction 2020 Strategy and the Social Housing Strategy. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, is also considering a number of policy options to achieve greater rent certainty.
24. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if an annual review takes place of the JobsPlus scheme and other related schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17243/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraJobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from the Live Register and those transitioning into employment. It provides employers with two levels of payment - €7,500 or €10,000 over two years - paid in monthly instalments provided the employment is maintained. The rate of payment depends on the length of time the person is unemployed. At the end of March 2014, the Department made payments of just over €1.69 million to 3,279 employers in respect of 4,424 employees.
The Department undertook a review of the pilot phase of JobsPlus covering the period July 2013 to June 2014. The key conclusions of the review was that the aim of putting in place an easily identifiable and user friendly scheme targeted at employers had been achieved. The Department identified that, during the pilot period, some 9,700 jobseekers has checked their eligibility for JobsPlus and that a greater proportion of jobseekers more than 24 months on the live register benefitted in this period, contrary to expectation prior to launch. The initial target of 2,500 supported positions had been exceeded at the end of June 2014 with the number of positions registered by employers exceeding 4,000 during the pilot phase. The review noted that the average level of subsidy paid at the end of June amounted to just over €373.78 per employee per month and that there was a net benefit to the Exchequer from each employee maintained in employment.
The Department is now updating the review to cover the first 18 months of operations of JobsPlus, in line with commitments in Pathways to Work. It is expected that this latest work will be completed by the end of May.
25. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will report on the introduction of the new public social services card; the number of cards issued since the new system was introduced; and her plans that all persons in receipt of a social welfare support will receive one. [17279/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe purpose of the Public Services Card (PSC) is to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort, while at the same time preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible. The PSC is designed to replace other cards within the public sector such as the free travel pass and the social services card of this Department and to make it easy for providers of public services to verify the identity of customers.
Considerable progress has been made in the roll out of the PSC. Approximately 1.4 million cards, including some 420,000 Free Travel Variants, have now been produced.
Face-to-face registration, which involves the capture of an individual's photograph and signature and the verification of identity data already held by the Department, is taking place countrywide in 94 offices of the Department. Selected low-risk customers, whose identity is regularly authenticated in a face-to-face process, have also been invited to avail of a 'postal' registration process. Registration is required for individual applicants for a Personal Public Service (PPS) Number and people applying for or in receipt of social protection payments or benefits.
The PSC project is a key initiative in the Public Service Reform Plan, with the aim to expand its use to cover a greater range of public services, e.g., later this year, the National Driver Licence Service registration process is being extended to include registration for a PSC. This effort is being overseen by an interdepartmental steering committee.
26. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the current level of rent supplement to take account of rent increases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17332/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are approximately 70,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for in 2015.
The Department recently published a review of the maximum rent limits, “Maximum Rent Limit Analysis and Findings” on www.welfare.ie. The review finds that increasing rent limits at this time could potentially add to further rental inflation in an already distressed market, affecting not alone rent supplement recipients, but lower-income workers and students. The impact of increasing limits will yield only a very marginal increase in available supply for rent supplement recipients, if at all, with the only certainty that raising limits will increase costs disproportionately for the Exchequer with little or no new housing available.
The Department will instead continue to provide for flexibility in assessing customers' accommodation needs through the National Tenancy Sustainment Framework. The Department is also working with Threshold's Tenancy Sustainment service in the Dublin and Cork city areas where supply is most acute. The primary objective of these initiatives is to ensure a speedy intervention for families at immediate risk of losing their tenancy through rising rents.
I am keeping this matter under review and am satisfied that this approach is the appropriate response at this time which has assisted in excess of 1,500 rent supplement recipients to retain their rented accommodation.
Government is addressing the supply issue through the Construction 2020 Strategy and the Social Housing Strategy. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, is also considering a number of policy options to achieve greater rent certainty.
27. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the way she will ensure that persons with disabilities will not be inappropriately activated under the proposed JobPath measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17333/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraJobPath is the Government's new labour market activation service aimed specifically at long-term unemployed jobseekers and those new jobseekers most distant from the labour market, with the primary objective of assisting such persons to secure sustained full-time paid employment. It is not intended that people who are in receipt of a disability related income support payment, e.g. Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, will be referred to JobPath.
JobPath will be delivered by third party providers of employment services under contract to the Department. JobPath will augment and complement the Department's existing employment service capacity as well as that of the Local Employment Service (LES) and Job Clubs, which already operate under contract to the Department, thereby increasing capacity to provide supports to assist jobseekers in obtaining employment.
Some unemployed people in receipt of a jobseeker payment may have a disability that does not inhibit their ability to work or to seek work. Accordingly JobPath companies will have a contractual obligation to ensure that JobPath services are accessible in accordance with the National Disability Authority's “Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information provided by Public Bodies”.
28. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the numbers of participants in County Tipperary on the JobBridge scheme, the Gateway scheme, the Tús work placement initiative, the community employment scheme, the JobsPlus scheme, and the work placement programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17239/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government's primary strategy to reduce unemployment has been implemented through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth.
Despite the progress that has been made, the Government acknowledges that both youth unemployment and long-term unemployment remain unacceptably high. Hence, the Government also recognises the need for additional activation measures in the interim while the economy recovers. This is the rationale behind the Government's Pathways to Work strategy and the Youth Guarantee.
Pathways to Work includes a wide range of programmes and services to help jobseekers back to employment. These include programmes such as JobBridge, JobsPlus, Gateway, TÚS, Community Employment and the Work Placement Programme.
JobsPlus is targeted specifically at encouraging employers to recruit people who are long-term unemployed. There are currently 167 people participating on JobsPlus in County Tipperary.
Community Employment, TÚS and Gateway provide work experience opportunities for long term unemployed jobseekers mainly within the community and voluntary sector. The numbers of participants on Community Employment (excluding supervisors) in County Tipperary is currently at 815 while TÚS has 392 participants and Gateway has 56 participants in County Tipperary.
There are 204 participants on the JobBridge scheme in County Tipperary. There are currently no Work Placement Programme participants in County Tipperary.
29. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures taken by her Department to crack down on welfare fraud; the amount of revenue saved by her Department by these measures in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17236/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe vast majority of people on social welfare are claiming the correct entitlement due to them. However, a small minority is not and a range of measures are employed by the Department to ensure that social welfare fraud and abuse is minimised and that its control activity is appropriately focused.
Since 2011 there has been a number of significant measures undertaken which have enhanced the prevention and detection of social welfare fraud. These measures are being progressed under the Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy 2014 – 2018. The Strategy builds on the approaches that had been successfully rolled out over the past couple of years. These include the continued roll-out of the Public Services Card, enhanced data sharing with other Government Departments and Agencies and a number of significant legislative measures.
The Department recognises that fraud investigation and control can be assisted through the application of a range of new technologies. In this context, the Department has recently commenced a project utilising analytics technology to predict which claims are more likely to be fraudulent. When this technology is in place, it will enable the Department to target higher risk cases for investigation and to do so faster.
In addition, since early Dec 2014, 20 Gardaí have been seconded to the Department's Special Investigation Unit. These officers will ensure a greater presence on the ground and will increase the investigative capacity and expertise of the Department to prevent, detect and deter social welfare fraud.
The emphasis continues to be on preventing fraud and error from entering the system in the first place. However, where fraud is discovered it is important that there are appropriate sanctions in place. In this regard, the Department is proactively targeting persons with overpayments to ensure all persons who have a social welfare overpayment are making a contribution towards the repayment of the debt outstanding. A number of legislative provisions have been introduced to strengthen the Department's capacity to recover debt and, in addition, a new debt management system went live in November 2014. It is also the Department's policy to consider for prosecution cases of fraud against the social welfare system.
The value of the Department's control work is measured in terms of control savings. Control savings are used as a performance indicator for year-on-year activities and are an estimate of the value of the various control activities across the schemes in payment. They refer to future expenditure that would have been incurred but for this control work. Without this control work, social welfare expenditure would increase by this amount over time.
The table provides the details of the control savings achieved and the number of control reviews undertaken for the past 5 years:
|
- |
Achieved 2010 €m |
Achieved 2011 €m |
Achieved 2012 €m |
Achieved 2013 €m |
Achieved 2014 €m |
|
SAVINGS |
€483.20 |
€645.57 |
€669.69 |
€631.66 |
€504.62 |
|
REVIEWS |
929,383 |
982,580 |
1,196,184 |
1,105,197 |
1,148,354 |
The outcomes demonstrate that the Department's more intense control focus in recent years is having a positive impact on the level of fraud and error in the social welfare system.
Fraud detection and control systems have been refined and enhanced in recent years and are subject to continuing review. Overall, I believe that this is resulting in less opportunity to commit fraud and less chance of claims being in payment at an incorrect rate through fraud or error.
30. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to address the serious impact of changes in pensions legislation which allows trustees to reduce the payments to current pensioners and deferred members. [17328/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 50 of the Pensions Act was amended in 2009 and again in 2013 to assist both the employers and the trustees of defined benefit pension schemes respond to the funding difficulties encountered by many defined benefit pension schemes. These changes provide for the sharing of the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme members.
It is a matter for the trustees of a scheme, who are required under trust law to act in the best interests of all scheme members, to determine how the provisions in section 50 of the Act might be applied.
I do not plan to bring forward amendments to this section of the Pensions Act at this time but I will continue to monitor the application of this section on an ongoing basis.
31. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the extent to which her Department continues to be in a position to meet the requirements of applicants who are on the local authority housing list, are currently in private rental accommodation and whose rent has increased beyond the extent to which it has been found possible to offer assistance; if she is aware of the increasing number of families who find themselves homeless and are applying for emergency housing; if a review of the situation is required in an effort to streamline the means whereby families, becoming homeless arising from unaffordable rent increases or home repossession, are cared for, to the best possible extent, by her Department or the local authorities, or a combination of both; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17286/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe primary responsibility for the provision of emergency accommodation for homeless persons rests with local authorities. The Department's role with regard to persons who are homeless is mainly income maintenance. Officers in the Department's Community Welfare Service work closely with those in the local authorities, including the Homeless Action Teams, in the provision of supports for accommodation. There is also close engagement between this Department and the local authorities in the roll out of the new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), which includes a homeless pilot currently operating in the Dublin area.
In relation to the rent supplement scheme administered by this Department, over 4,700 claims have been awarded to date in 2015. Officers administering the scheme will continue to provide for flexibility in assessing customers' accommodation needs through the National Tenancy Sustainment Framework. The Department is also working with Threshold's Tenancy Sustainment service in the Dublin and Cork city areas where supply shortage is most acute. The primary objective of these initiatives is to ensure a speedy intervention for families at immediate risk of losing their tenancy through rising rents.
I am keeping this matter under review and am satisfied that this flexible approach is the appropriate response at this time which has assisted in excess of 1,500 rent supplement recipients to retain their rented accommodation through increased rent limits.
32. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on whether not extending all Intreo services to persons with disabilities throughout Ireland, including all the voluntary activation schemes, for example, the Youth Guarantee scheme and Momentum, regardless of payment type that the disabled person is on, discriminates against persons with disabilities when they seek activation and employment opportunities on a par with their non-disabled peers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17244/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government recognises the importance of increasing participation in employment for persons with a disability and provides a wide range of income and work related supports through the Department of Social Protection. These supports play an important role in supporting increased participation in the labour force by people with disabilities.
The Department provides a range of specific employment-related supports for people with disabilities. These supports include the wage subsidy scheme (WSS), the EmployAbility (supported employment) service, the reasonable accommodation fund for the employment of people with disabilities and the disability awareness training scheme. For those who are in receipt of invalidity pension or illness benefit (for at least six months) and who feel they now have some capacity for work, the partial capacity benefit (PCB) scheme allows them to work and retain a portion of their social welfare payment.
In addition, now that the Intreo service is established, the Department is providing full activation support to people with disabilities who wish to avail of the service, initially, in ten locations. It is planned to expand the number of locations over time based on operational experience, but any person with a disability is at all times free to contact the Intreo service.
Unlike job-seekers where participation in activation measures through the Intreo service is mandatory, in the case of persons in receipt of disability/illness support payments, engagement with the Intreo service is on a voluntary basis. The Department is also currently considering how people with disabilities might best be included in the Momentum programme.
Therefore, taking account of the above I do not believe that persons with disabilities are discriminated against when they seek activation and employment opportunities on a par with their non-disabled peers.
33. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures she is taking to reduce pension costs being charged on members of pension schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17242/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 2012 Report on Pension Charges undertaken by my Department, working with the Central Bank and the Pensions Authority, was the first comprehensive Government report on this subject. Since publication, a range of measures have been taken to deliver on the report's recommendations and work is ongoing in this regard. For example, in line with the recommendation that the implementation of the Consumer Protection Code should be monitored, the Central Bank has undertaken a number of themed reviews aimed at ensuring this is the case. This includes a recently published review of annual pension statements which found the vast majority of firms were in compliance with the code. Where the Bank identified a small number of firms where the format of annual statements were not as required, those concerned were required to submit implementation timelines for full compliance.
In parallel, my Department is involved in complementary EU negotiations on a revision of the IORPs (Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision) Directive which lays down basic requirements for occupational pensions. It is anticipated that the final provisions will result in improvements in the areas of transparency, trustee competencies and scheme governance and which will promote competitiveness in charging structures.
Under the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 the Pensions Board was restructured into the Pensions Authority and the Pensions Council. The purpose of the Pensions Council is to provide advice on pensions and to give a much stronger prominence to consumer concerns. I have previously highlighted that there a number of specific matters which I want the Council to focus on and this includes the area of pension charges which, following its recent establishment, the Council has now begun to consider.
34. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to the further roll-out of schemes, such as Gateway and community employment schemes, in a non-random selection process to allow more persons who are unemployed to avail of part-time work by presenting themselves voluntarily to their local Intreo office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17235/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraWork placement and training schemes such as community employment, Tús and Gateway provide useful measures in supporting jobseekers back into work. In total, these measures currently provide around 35,000 work placements supporting jobseekers and service provision nationally.
Both Tús and Gateway use a random selection from the live register as part of the recruitment process. Random selection is not part of the process for community employment and interested jobseekers can establish their eligibility at the Department's Intreo offices. Gateway also offers interested jobseekers who meet the criteria the opportunity to apply to and be considered for recruitment via their own county or city council or with an Intreo Centre. A similar facility for Tús is also being finalised and will be rolled out in the near future.
35. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the cost-benefit analysis undertaken regarding proposed changes in the Money Advice and Budgeting Service structures; her views on whether the proposed changes will mean that the value of the local voluntary input on the local boards, which has been the cornerstone on which the service has been built and developed into the most respected and valued independent service for 23 years, is lost forever; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17248/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt the outset, I wish to assure the Deputy that the Government is totally committed to maintaining and strengthening MABS and its local delivery of services. While work is underway exploring how to optimise resources and governance arrangements to the greatest extent possible, I can also assure the Deputy that there will be no diminution of locally-provided services to the public, no closure of service locations, and no staff redundancies. In fact, the aim of this exploration is to ensure that any efficiencies and savings achieved in governance arrangements can be used to expand and enhance local service delivery.
The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for providing information, advice (including money and budgeting advice service) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. CIB delivers on this remit through a network of delivery partners which includes 51 local Money Advice and Budgeting Services (MABS) and 42 local Citizens Information Services (CIS). In 2015 the CIB has been allocated a budget of €46m of which some €17.9 million is allocated to the MABS network of companies.
There are over 600 permanent staff, approximately 200 scheme workers and an estimated 2,000 volunteers working for the 93 independent companies in the network (51 MABS and 42 CISs). Each of these companies has a separate voluntary Board of Management, comprising an average of over 9 members per Board resulting in a governance structure of over 800 people. The maintenance of such an unwieldy company and Board structure is no longer sustainable from an organisational or governance perspective and the resource effort required could otherwise be directed towards improved service delivery to citizens. Therefore, as part of the implementation of its Strategic Plan 2012-2015, CIB commissioned a feasibility study to identify options for dealing with this issue through greater organisational consolidation and/or integration of its delivery partners. This work was carried out by a company called Pathfinder and overseen by a Steering Group, comprising national representatives from MABS staff and Boards, Citizens Information Services staff and Boards, and staff from the Citizens Information Board. The work included extensive and comprehensive consultation with all stakeholders, including representatives of CIB's delivery partner services (MABS and CIS) at local level. It identified a number of options for consideration. Following on from this, the Board of CIB agreed to the establishment of a Design Group tasked with outlining and recommending possible new structural models. The Design Group includes members of the voluntary boards and staff of a number of the MABS and CIS services, together with representation from CIB management. Submissions were sought by CIB from the representatives of Boards and staff of MABS and CIS, to inform the deliberations of the Design Group.
The Design Group recently furnished a progress report on its deliberations to the CIB executive, which in turn communicated an update to its network of service delivery partners. The Design Group has identified, as an option for consideration by the Board of CIB in due course, that the 51 Boards of MABS companies and the 42 Boards of CIS companies could be consolidated across six (6) regions, resulting in six (6) independent MABS companies and Boards, and six (6) independent CIS companies and Boards, all reporting to the board of CIB. However, it is important to note that any such consolidation would be at the Board level only. All existing MABS offices would remain unaffected. Local service delivery and personnel would not be impacted and would continue as before. The proposed option could provide a structure to ensure that advice and input in relation to local issues continues and for networking to maintain local connections.
The Design Group's recently proposed option will require further development, to include estimates of costs that may arise and potential savings that may accrue from moving to a reduced company and Board structure, together with a risk assessment. At this early stage, indicative high level savings arising from a reduced governance structure, from 93 companies and Boards to 12, suggest there may be savings achievable in the amount of €340,000 per annum. It may be possible to take any savings that arise and use them for enhancing local service delivery or indeed offering additional services.
It is important to note that neither this option nor any alternative has yet been considered by the Board of CIB. Accordingly, no decisions have been made by the Board and no proposal has been formally made by it to my Department for consideration.
36. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her views on the delays in processing applications for rent allowance, in particular for residents of Dublin South Central; and the reason that requests for additional information from her Department automatically result in an application being put to the bottom of the processing pile. [17344/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe rent supplement scheme provides 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 approximately 70,200 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015.
The timescale for determining applications for rent supplement can vary and is dependent amongst other things, on the completeness of the application at time of receipt and the availability of required information such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements, information in respect of landlords, etc. The Rents Unit which is responsible for South Dublin City deals with high volumes of work, and some aspects of processing rent supplement applications can be complex and time consuming and delays can unfortunately occur where additional information is required.
Where all the necessary information is available claims are processed in a timely manner in order to award payment of rent supplement. Such cases are not delayed for processing and every effort is made to ensure that all applications for rent supplement are processed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
If the Deputy has received information to the contrary in relation to a particular case officials can investigate further if details are provided.
37. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in view of the fact that the Government is now claiming that there is a return to recovery, if she is planning to reverse cuts that have affected lone parents during her time as Minister; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17338/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraExpenditure on the One Parent Family Payment (OFP) scheme is estimated to be €607million in 2015 with almost 70,000 recipients.
However, despite considerable investment, the scheme has not succeeded in preventing lone parents from being significantly more at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole.
In 2004, at the height of the economic boom, lone parents were more than four and a half times at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole. Before the reforms to the scheme, lone parents could have been on the scheme until their youngest child turned 18, or 22 if they were in full-time education.
This is why I believe that the reforms I have introduced are much needed as they are moving us away from providing passive income support over a long period towards an active, engagement approach.
The reforms seek to address the long-term social welfare dependency and poverty experienced by many lone parents by providing them with improved access to the Department's range of education, training, and employment supports. Access to these services and supports is imperative for lone parents, in order to ensure that their prospects of securing employment and financial independence are improved.
Any reversal of these reforms would delay this critical interaction between lone parents and the Department's Intreo services and would potentially increase the barriers they face to entering employment in the future.
I therefore have no plans to reverse the forthcoming changes to the one parent family payment.
38. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the extent to which exceptional needs payments continued to meet the needs of various applicants over the past 12 months as was previously the case, with particular reference to applications from bereaved families, in view of the fact that the bereavement grant no longer exists; if she is satisfied that exceptional needs payments continue to be made in line with the need arising from families' circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17285/15]
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 €29 million for the ENP scheme in 2015. The scheme is demand led and is available to assist an individual or household in any particular hardship situation which may arise.
An application can be made under the ENP scheme for assistance with funeral and burial expenses. In 2014, the Department supported approximately 3,000 applicants with financial assistance towards these costs, at a provisional cost of some €4.6 million.
In determining an entitlement to an ENP for funeral expenses the Department official will take into account the circumstances of the individual applicant and of the deceased person, including any savings, property, insurance policies etc., and the ability of other members of the family to meet, or contribute to, the cost involved. The Department official will also consider if a bereavement grant is available from any other source including former employer, credit union, trade union etc.
In addition to the ENP scheme, the Department provides other supports to customers and their families following bereavement, including the continuation of some scheme payments for 6 weeks after a death. The Department also provides the widowed or surviving civil partner's grant which is a once-off payment of €6,000.
Any person who considers that they have an entitlement to any of the supports available should contact the Department.
39. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of families that will be impacted by the change in the one-parent family payment, due to take place fully this summer; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17331/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAlmost 70,000 lone parents are currently supported by the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme at an estimated cost of approximately €607 million in 2015. Yet despite significant levels of investment lone parents are still significantly more at risk of consistent poverty compared to the population as a whole.
The purpose of the phased OFP scheme age change reforms that were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency and poverty among lone parents and to ensure that they have improved access to the Department's range of education, training, and employment support programmes to assist them in securing employment.
The final phase of the OFP scheme age change reforms will take place on 2 July, 2015, when the maximum age limit of the youngest child at which an OFP recipient's payment ceases will be reduced to 7 years for all recipients.
Approximately 29,400 OFP recipients will transition from the scheme on that day. These customers will be supported by the Department to transition to an alternative income support payment – as appropriate. It is estimated that 19,800 customers will move to the Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) transitional arrangement, 4,100 to the JA scheme, and 5,500 to the Family Income Supplement (FIS) scheme. Those moving to FIS will also qualify for the Back to Work Family Dividend.
