Written Answers Nos. 591-607
591. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is in receipt of expert advice regarding the pension age; his plans to increase the pension age further than currently indicated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20232/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Pensions Green Paper consultation process commenced in October 2007 and was completed in May 2008. It formed the basis of the National Pension Framework published in 2010. The Framework set out that the State pension age would increase to 66 in 2014, 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. This was a response to increasing life expectancy, which has been well documented both in Ireland and internationally, and the requirement to make the pension system sustainable while ensuring the rate of payment is adequate.
More recently, the OECD report on the Review of the Irish Pension System confirmed that the reforms that have been introduced, including these increases in pension age, are necessary if we are to continue to put pension provision on a sustainable footing given increased life expectancy and the increasing cost of pensions into the future. Notably, that report commented that “financial sustainability is not guaranteed unless pension ages are increased beyond current plans in most OECD countries, including Ireland”.
My Department participates in a number of bodies which examine this issue, notably in the context of the European Union, and I am very aware of developments in this area internationally, where most countries recognise that increasing pension age is an important tool in maintaining the adequacy of state pension systems.
The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 provided for the necessary amendments to increase the State pension age as announced in the National Pensions Framework. It provided for an increase in the age for qualification for the State Pension from 66 years to 67 years from 2021, and a further increase to 68 years from 2028. It also discontinued the State Pension (transition) for new claimants with effect from 1 January 2014. It is estimated that the net savings from this measure amount to over €80 million per annum. As the State Pension (transition) could only be paid if the recipient had retired, and given such a criterion does not apply to the State pension (contributory), the abolition of that pension removed a significant disincentive to those who did not wish to retire at State pension age.
In advance of the abolition of the State pension (transition), in 2012 an Interdepartmental Working and Retirement Group convened to discuss the wide range of issues impacting on the labour market participation of older workers, including enterprise issues and employment and equality law issues. This was in order to consider cross departmental policy issues that may support longer working and thereby improve the sustainability and adequacy of the pensions system.
More recently, in January 2016, an Interdepartmental Group on Fuller Working Lives, chaired by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, was established specifically to examine the implications arising from prevailing retirement ages. The final report of the Group made a number of recommendations to support working and retirement practices. This included a request to the Workplace Relations Commission to prepare a Code of Practice under Section 42 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 to help manage the engagement between employers and employees regarding retirement issues and longer working. The final report, the recommendations of which were accepted by Government in August 2016, is available on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s website.
The forthcoming independent Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund will provide further information regarding future pension costs.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
593. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons currently in receipt of the full rate of contributory State pension who have made total contributions or credits of under 900, 900 to 1,200, 1,200 to 1,500, 1,500 to 1,800 and 1,800; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20296/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe statistics in the format requested by the Deputy are not available.
The determining factor of a person’s qualifying rate of entitlement to state pension (contributory) is the yearly average of the number of social insurance contributions, paid and credited, over the person’s working life. Maximum rate state pension (contributory) is payable where a yearly average of 48 or more contributions is achieved.
The number of persons currently in receipt of maximum rate state pension (contributory), based on a yearly average of 48 or more contributions, is 153,310.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
594. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection when the full complement of staff will be restored for County Cavan due to a vacancy arising from the retirement of a person (details supplied); if no further delay will occur in filling this vacancy due to the importance and increasing demand for the services that are delivered by this division of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20336/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department keeps staffing matters under constant review in order to ensure all priority vacancies are filled in a timely manner and that resource allocations are balanced across the Department to meet key priorities as necessary. However, as the Deputy will be aware my Department must operate within its ceiling under the Employment Control Framework and accordingly not all vacancies which arise can be filled. The position referred to by the Deputy is one such vacancy.
Local Management has examined the general case/claim load distribution position in the Cavan Area to see how the workload can be best carried out using existing resources. This review is now completed and a decision has been taken in relation to this. Over the coming weeks an additional resource will be provided to the Social Welfare Inspectorate.
Staff in my Department in Cavan continues to ensure that the level of service being delivered to customers in County Cavan is maintained to a high standard.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
595. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to increase the payments made to participants on community employment schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20378/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder Budget 2017, every Community Employment participant received an extra €5 per week with effect from 13th March 2017 and those in receipt of an increase for a qualified adult also received an additional €3.30 or €2.10 depending on their individual circumstances.
As the Deputy is aware, increases to payment rates are a budgetary matter and would have to considered under that context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
596. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason unemployed persons in Cashel, County Tipperary are expected to travel up to 20 miles to meet with their Turas Nua personal adviser at times which are not practical with local public transport times; the reason appointments are not available in Cashel and other towns in which there is a number of persons from the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20427/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe JobPath contracts provide that a customer should not have to travel more than 60 minutes in normal circumstances to attend an appointment. Where a customer has transport difficulties the JobPath Provider may assist the customer with travel arrangements including the reimbursement of reasonable travel costs.
Turas Nua currently operates 27 full-time and 14 part-time offices throughout their operating region. At present, 8 offices are accessible within a normal journey time of 60 minutes either by public transport or private motorised transport from Cashel.
Customers from Cashel are initially referred to the Turas Nua office in Clonmel, but they do have the option to engage in the Turas Nua office most convenient for them. Customers with concerns over public transport should first contact their Personal Adviser, who will do their best to schedule appointments around the transport timetables.
The offices are based in:
- Tipperary town – 18.8km from Cashel, 17 mins by car. Additionally there is a local bus service called Ring a Link – http://ringalink.ie – that provides transportation between Cashel and Tipperary five days a week.
- Thurles – 22.3km from Cashel, 19 mins by car and 49 mins by Bernard Kavanagh & Sons bus
- Clonmel – 24.9km from Cashel, 29 mins by car and 45 mins by Bernard Kavanagh & Sons bus
- Nenagh – 53.9km from Cashel, 54 mins by car
- Roscrea – 55.5km from Cashel, 52 mins by car
- Dungarvan – 62.2km from Cashel, 55 mins by car
- Kilkenny – 62.4km from Cashel, 52 mins by car
- Portlaoise – 77.4km from Cashel, 47 mins by car
Customers claiming their jobseekers payment from Cashel Branch Office are currently being referred to JobPath at a rate of 6 per week. In total 245 jobseekers from Cashel and the surrounding areas are engaged with the service. Given the number of options available to customers in the region, there is no current requirement for a separate Turas Nua office in Cashel.
Towards the end of 2016 my Department commissioned an independent survey to assess customer satisfaction with the service provided by both JobPath companies. Turas Nua scored 4.37 out of 5 for ease of travel to their offices. This survey is available on my department’s website at – http://www.welfare.ie/en/downloads/JobPath-performance-report-January-2017.pdf.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
597. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the delay in arranging an interview with a social welfare inspector for a person (details supplied) regarding their application for disability allowance; if this appointment can be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20436/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis gentleman submitted an application for disability allowance on 15 December 2016.
The application was forwarded to a social welfare inspector in order to establish the means available to the person. The inspector requested documentation from the person in question on 24 March 2017. The information requested has not been received to date. The inspector forwarded his/her report to the deciding officer on 26 April 2017.
The application was refused as my department were unable to determine eligibility on means grounds and he did not satisfy the medical condition for the scheme. He was notified in writing of this decision on 26 April 2017 and of his rights of review and appeal.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
598. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of community employment projects currently in operation in each county, in tabular form; the number of community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors; the number community employment participants on these projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20459/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of Community Employment (CE) scheme projects currently in operation in each county, including the number of CE supervisors, assistant supervisors and participants, as at the end of March 2017 are set out in tabular form.
|
County |
No. of Projects |
Supervisors |
Assistant Supervisors |
Current Participants |
|
Carlow |
15 |
20 |
4 |
399 |
|
Cavan |
12 |
13 |
4 |
320 |
|
Clare |
25 |
27 |
7 |
470 |
|
Cork |
82 |
102 |
8 |
1,980 |
|
Donegal |
50 |
55 |
4 |
1,097 |
|
Dublin |
225 |
284 |
95 |
5,053 |
|
Galway |
66 |
70 |
14 |
1,367 |
|
Kerry |
45 |
46 |
4 |
998 |
|
Kildare |
24 |
31 |
8 |
722 |
|
Kilkenny |
16 |
19 |
7 |
436 |
|
Laois |
14 |
15 |
306 |
|
|
Leitrim |
7 |
7 |
1 |
158 |
|
Limerick |
51 |
65 |
11 |
1,251 |
|
Longford |
14 |
17 |
2 |
333 |
|
Louth |
25 |
30 |
13 |
743 |
|
Mayo |
34 |
36 |
10 |
730 |
|
Meath |
16 |
20 |
7 |
443 |
|
Monaghan |
11 |
14 |
5 |
396 |
|
Offaly |
16 |
16 |
5 |
359 |
|
Roscommon |
16 |
18 |
312 |
|
|
Sligo |
20 |
29 |
2 |
465 |
|
Tipperary |
47 |
48 |
9 |
861 |
|
Waterford |
36 |
39 |
9 |
771 |
|
Westmeath |
20 |
24 |
9 |
564 |
|
Wexford |
44 |
54 |
9 |
1,018 |
|
Wicklow |
22 |
30 |
4 |
569 |
|
Totals |
953 |
1,129 |
251 |
22,121 |
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
601. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on the way in which the ERIN recording system calculates data and its potential to record individual claims numerous times thereby misrepresenting the figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20473/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe ERIN system in the Department is an integrated file tracking system that is used by staff in offices to pinpoint the location of a paper based case file at any given time, i.e. throughout its life cycle from creation to finalisation.
The system records and monitors the progress of the case file as it is assigned for action across the office network and to individual investigators.
When a case is assigned to an individual investigator, the officer assigns the case file to themselves on the ERIN system upon receipt of the paper file. When they have completed all necessary tasks associated with the case the officer closes their assignment and enters the onward destination in the Department where the case is being forwarded to for the next action. The paper file used would be transferred to the relevant office in parallel and the process repeated.
Given the use of the ERIN system for file tracking, the records included on it are reflective of the transactions that occur in the Department on the file journey that is required to process a case or claim.
The ERIN system is being phased out of operational use in the Department over the course of 2017 as use of paper based files is being discontinued.
602. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the refusal of a domiciliary allowance application by a person (details supplied); if he will review this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20480/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis gentleman submitted an application for disability allowance on 10 January 2017.
The application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person in question was notified in writing of this decision on 3 March 2017 and of his rights of review and appeal. No request for review or appeal was received.
If the person in question believes they may qualify, it is open to him to reapply by completing and submitting to the Department the relevant application form (DA1).
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
603. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application for family income supplement by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20481/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraA Family Income Supplement (FIS) claim was registered for the person concerned on the 25th April 2017.
All FIS application forms are registered on the day of receipt.
This claim has not been processed to date but when processed, the person concerned will be notified.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
604. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if an emergency payment can be facilitated in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20488/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application form has been sent to the person concerned to facilitate such an application being made. She should complete this and present with it at her local community welfare service office in Maynooth.
I know you have been in touch with Philip in my office on this case. He will continue to be available to assist further if needed.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
605. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason not all rent arrears in respect of rent allowance payments for January, February and March 2017 were not paid in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20489/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Question No 145 of 9th February 2017. The client concerned has not, to date, submitted the documentation requested by the Department regarding her Rent Supplement claim. On receipt of same, the client’s entitlement will be re-assessed.
The client concerned is currently in receipt of their maximum entitlement to Rent Supplement in line with legislation.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
606. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Social Protection the cost of increasing the weekly maternity benefit payment by €20 for one year based on maternity leave uptake numbers in 2016. [20497/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMaternity benefit is a payment made for 26 weeks to employed and self-employed pregnant women who satisfy certain pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions in order to avoid the need for them to work pre and post-delivery of their baby. The original scheme was introduced in 1970 and was extended to include self-employed mothers with effect from June 1997.
In 2016 my Department spent €255.8 million on maternity benefit and in 2017 it is estimated that my Department will spend approximately €266 million, in respect of an average of 22,000 recipients per week.
The estimated cost of increasing maternity benefit by €20 per week for a full year would be approximately €22.6 million.
607. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of a family income supplement, FIS, application by a person (details supplied). [20559/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraA Family Income Supplement (FIS) claim was registered for the family concerned on the 05th April 2017.
The applicant has been awarded FIS amounting to €86.00 per week from 06th April 2017 to 04th April 2018 and will be paid to the recipient’s bank account on 28th April 2017.
Arrears of FIS due have been issued to the claimant’s nominated bank account this week.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy
