Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016

Written Answers Nos. 103 - 112

Rent Supplement Scheme Data

Ceisteanna (105, 144, 172, 183)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Ceist:

105. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the amounts paid in rent supplement, by local authority area, in each year since 2013. [1085/16]

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

144. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the amount she has spent in payments and the number of recipients under the rent supplement scheme in each year since the Scheme was established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1457/16]

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

172. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of rent support in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1537/16]

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

183. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of rent support; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1578/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 144, 172 and 183 together.

Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting over 61,000 people for which the Government has provided approximately €267 million for 2016. A breakdown of rent supplement recipients by county, including Kildare, is provided in the following tabular statement.

End of year statistics on rent supplement recipients and expenditure since 1999 are also provided. Information regarding rent supplement expenditure for earlier years is not available and information on expenditure is not maintained by Local Authority.

Rent Supplement: Recipient Numbers & Expenditure 1999 to December 2015

Year	Cost €000	Recipients at year end
1999	128,240	41,873
2000	150,590	42,683
2001	179,438	45,028
2002	252,203	54,213
2003	331,471	59,976
2004	353,762	57,874
2005	368,705	60,176
2006	388,339	59,861
2007	391,466	59,726
2008	440,548	74,038
2009	510,751	93,030
2010	516,538	97,260
2011	502,747	96,803
2012	422,536	87,684
2013	372,909	79,788
2014	338,203	71,533
2015	298,415	61,247

Rent Supplement Recipients by County, End December 2015

COUNTY	Recipients
CARLOW	962
CAVAN	403
CLARE	1,024
CORK	6,822
DONEGAL	1,202
DUBLIN	23,758
GALWAY	3,326
KERRY	1,633
KILDARE	3,396
KILKENNY	554
LAOIS	978
LEITRIM	331
LIMERICK	1,441
LONGFORD	384
LOUTH	1,462
MAYO	1,528
MEATH	1,528
MONAGHAN	269
OFFALY	812
ROSCOMMON	611
SLIGO	478
TIPPERARY	1,674
WATERFORD	958
WESTMEATH	1,426
WEXFORD	2,296
WICKLOW	1,991
Total	61,247

Question No. 106 answered with Question No. 37.

Tax Code

Ceisteanna (107)

Timmy Dooley

Ceist:

107. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the cost of the former employer PRSI exemption scheme in 2012 and in 2013; the number of employers who availed of the scheme; and the estimated number of jobs that were created as a result of the scheme. [1118/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection

The Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive scheme was launched in June 2010 exempting an employer from their share of the PRSI contribution in respect of workers for 18 months from the date of approval. The scheme ceased at the end of June 2013 when the new JobsPlus Incentive was introduced to replace both it and the Revenue Job Assist scheme with effect from the 1st July 2013. From the introduction of the scheme in 2010 to June 2013, applications in respect of 5,796 employees were received from 3,430 employers. Over this period of time, 2,617 employers were approved for the PRSI exemption in respect of 3,916 employees at an estimated cost of €6.8m.

Back to Education Allowance

Ceisteanna (108)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

108. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 233 of 20 October 2015, why a person (details supplied) in County Kildare did not qualify for any scheme while completing a post primary course; what is required to qualify for such assistance, given that person is now completing a post leaving certificate course with no assistance from the Department of Education and Skills in respect of grant assistance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1127/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The person concerned is currently attending a Post Leaving Cert Course of study. In order to be eligible to apply for assistance with a course of study a person must be in receipt of a payment from the Department. As the person concerned is not in receipt of a qualifying payment nor was he in receipt of a qualifying payment at the time of commencing his course of education, he is not eligible to apply for any schemes administered by this Department.

It is open to the person concerned to call to his local office where a member of staff can clarify any issues he may have in relation to this matter.

Question No. 109 withdrawn.

Social Welfare Benefits

Ceisteanna (110)

Willie O'Dea

Ceist:

110. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection why a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7 did not receive the Christmas bonus in 2015; if she will make the payment if it is found that this payment was not paid in error; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1169/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

Illness benefit is classed as a short term payment so the award of a Christmas bonus does not apply.

The Department of Social Protection legislation provides that illness benefit can only be paid for a maximum of 104 weeks (624 pay days) in respect of claims made from January 2009 onwards.

Certain persons in receipt of illness benefit prior to 2009 held their entitlement to illness benefit but this did not create an entitlement to the Christmas bonus.

Social Welfare Benefits

Ceisteanna (111)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

111. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to an earlier parliamentary question (details supplied), the entitlement in respect of a contributory widow's pension for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare arising from that person's contributions and those of that person's spouse here and in the United Kingdom, if this qualifies this person for the equivalent of a full contributory widow's pension either directly or made up of a combination of a contributory widow's pension and a non-contributory widow's pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1206/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

A widow’s contributory pension is based on the social insurance record of either the person concerned or their late spouse. The two records cannot be combined when calculating entitlement.

Neither the person concerned nor their late spouse have sufficient social insurance contributions paid in Ireland to qualify them for a standard widow’s contributory pension. The person concerned was in receipt of a pro-rata widow’s contributory pension from July 1994 to November 2008. This pension was based on a combination of their late spouse’s Irish and UK social insurance contributions.

The person concerned relinquished this pension in November 2008 in favour of one parent family payment, which was payable at a higher rate. If the person concerned considers that they satisfy the conditions for receipt of widow’s contributory pension and wish to have their entitlement to pension re-examined, they should send their request in writing to Widow’s Contributory Pensions, Department of Social Protection, College Road, Sligo.

Alternatively, the person concerned can apply for a widow’s non-contributory pension, a means tested payment payable to widows aged under 66 years who do not have dependent children, and their entitlement will be examined.

Under social welfare legislation, a person in receipt of a contributory pension cannot concurrently receive a non-contributory pension. It is not possible to combine entitlements of both pension types.

Social Welfare Benefits Data

Ceisteanna (112)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

112. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will reintroduce the telephone allowance (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1220/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection

The overall concern of Government in its Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. Expenditure on pensions at approx. €6.974 billion is the largest block of expenditure in the Department in the Estimate for 2016, representing approx. 35.5% of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes, the Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year. The Department had to make provision for an additional €84 million in 2016 for the increasing number of pensioners. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in protecting people from poverty.

The decision to discontinue the telephone allowance was estimated to provide annual savings of €48 million, and with the year-on-year increase in the number of people qualifying for the household benefits package, this yearly saving will increase. These savings meant that the Department was able to retain the other valuable elements of the household benefits package such as the electricity and gas allowance and the television licence. The Department will spend approximately €227 million this year on these elements of the household benefits package for over 416,000 customers.

I am keenly aware of the impact of Budget decisions on the Department’s clients, and I have sought to ensure that the money available is targeted in the most effective way. In Budget 2016, I was able to announce the first increase in the basic rate of the State pension in seven years, by €3 per week. This will increase the personal rate of the non-contributory pension to €222, and that of the contributory pension to €233.30. I was also pleased to announce a €2.50 increase in the rate of the Fuel Allowance, from €20 to €22.50 per week. I believe that, taken together with other changes, such as increasing the Christmas Bonus to 75% of weekly rate, the impact of this Budget will be very positive for older people.