Written Answers Nos. 254-263
254. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when illness benefit payments will issue to a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20960/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Illness Benefit claim from the person concerned has been paid up to the 5th May 2019, which is the last date of incapacity for work on her most recent medical certificate.
If the person concerned remains ill and unfit for work, a further medical certificate should be submitted to the Department as soon as possible in order for further payments to issue.
I trust this clarifies the matter for The Deputy.
255. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a disability allowance application by a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20980/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI confirm that my department received an application for disability allowance from this lady on 11 March 2019. On completion of the necessary investigations on all aspects of the claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
The processing time for individual DA claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity in terms of the three main qualifying criteria, the person’s circumstances and the information they provide in support of their claim.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
256. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a review of pension entitlements has been conducted in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20981/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince late September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of approximately 90,000 pensioners, born on or after 1 September 1946, who have a reduced rate State pension contributory entitlement based on post Budget 2012 rate-bands. These payments are being reviewed under a new Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to pension calculation which includes provision for homecaring periods.
In March 2019, the person concerned submitted an application for HomeCaring periods. A review outcome has now issued to the person concerned, outlining details of their increase to maximum rate State pension contributory. Arrears of payment, backdated 30 March 2018, will issue shortly.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
257. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if payments are made to Turas Nua and Seetec in which a JobPath participant becomes self-employed and is deemed to be no longer eligible for job activation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20987/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraJobPath employment service providers are paid on the basis of performance and with the exception of the initial registration fee, payments are made only when a client has achieved sustained employment, including self-employment, and ceases to be entitled to claim a jobseekers related payment.
Once a client ceases to claim a jobseekers’ related payment they are no longer required to engage with the Department’s activation services. However in-work support can be provided as required for up to a year.
It should be noted that Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) is a jobseekers related payment and therefore the JobPath service providers would not be entitled to a fee for individuals who enter self-employment and are in receipt of this payment. However, if a JobPath participant becomes self employed and they are not in receipt of the BTWEA, then the JobPath providers would be entitled to a fee for this individual.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
258. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a decision will be made on a carer's allowance application by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20992/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraCarer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care.
CA has been in payment to the person concerned for one care recipient since 24 April 2008.
CA was awarded to the person concerned on 10 May 2019, in respect of a 2nd care recipient with effect from 7 September 2017 and the first payment will issue to her nominated post office on 16 May 2019.
Arrears for the period 7 September 2017 to 15 May 2019 will issue shortly.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
259. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the case of a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21027/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, a qualified child is defined as being either under the age of 18 years or over the age of 18 years if attending a course of study as described in section 148(3)(a). The children of the person concerned are being home schooled, and as such do not qualify for payment. The person concerned has been advised of his right to appeal the decision.
Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.
However, there is no automatic entitlement to these types of payments. ENPs are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payment targets those most in need of assistance. An application for an ENP can be made by contacting the officer administering the SWA scheme in the Manorhamilton INTREO office.
260. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an application for a domiciliary care allowance by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21028/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from this lady on the 3rd April 2019. Applications received in early March 2019 are currently being finalised. The application will be considered by a deciding officer in due course and the decision notified to her as soon as possible.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
261. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration has been given to the introduction of a scheme by which senior citizens living in remote areas would have a contribution to transport costs paid for in cases in which there is no access to public transport; her views on whether the free travel scheme is of little benefit to these persons; and if additional supports are necessary. [21072/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators. There are currently over 940,000 customers with direct eligibility. Following Budget 2019 the funding for the free travel scheme was increased by €5 million to a total of €95 million.
A further provision of €10 million was made for the existing scheme in Budget 2018 to facilitate more private commercial operators joining the free travel scheme for the first time, existing participants adding more routes, and operators returning to the scheme where they had previously withdrawn. My Department also provides €1.5 million in funding towards the rural transport programme which enables the development of better links between local/rural transport, and scheduled bus/rail services.
Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA) the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection may award a travel supplement in any case where the circumstances of the case so warrant. The supplement is intended to assist with ongoing or recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the client’s own resources and are deemed to be necessary. Every decision is based on consideration of the circumstances of the case, taking account of the nature and extent of the need and of the resources of the person concerned.
Any decision to introduce a new scheme to give a travel allowance to senior citizens living in remote areas would have considerable budgetary consequences, would require significant administrative procedures to be put in place to decide which pensioners lived in areas that were sufficiently remote to qualify, and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
262. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if consideration will be given to establishing a Dublin regional housing delivery task force on the lines of proposals for Cork and Galway in view of the large number of households in emergency homeless accommodation and on housing waiting lists in the greater Dublin area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21022/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of the implementation of Construction 2020 – A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector, a Housing Supply Coordination Taskforce for Dublin was established in June 2014 and comprises of representatives from my Department, each of the four Dublin local authorities, NAMA and other agencies.
The focus of the Taskforce is to address supply-related issues relating to the delivery of housing in the Dublin region and to track data on planning permissions and housing activity. The data collated by the Taskforce on the aggregated planning permissions and planning applications across the four Dublin local authorities is mapped and available on my Department's website at the following link:
www.housinggovie.maps.arcgis.com/apps/SimpleViewer/index.html?appid=1991a17faeb44bd2a76667d7d6da1ee6.
Further information in relation to housing under construction, including social housing units to be provided within relevant developments under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 or otherwise, will be available from the relevant Dublin local authority.
The Task Force meets quarterly and the reports are published on my Department's website at the following link: www.housing.gov.ie/housing/construction-2020-strategy/dublin-housing-supply-task-force/housing-supply-coordination-task.
263. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if a house that was originally acquired under the shared ownership scheme with a local authority can now be included in the rent-to-buy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21032/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2011, the Government announced the standing down of all affordable housing schemes, including the shared ownership scheme. Following a review of the shared ownership scheme undertaken in 2013, my Department together with the Housing Agency, the Housing Finance Agency and local authorities, considered the affordability issues facing some borrowers, who purchased properties under the shared ownership schemes and devised a more affordable long-term path towards full home ownership. Indeed, a range of measures have already been undertaken to reduce the monthly payments of shared ownership borrowers.
The index linked shared ownership scheme, which operated from 1999 until 2002, has been revised with regard to the annual indexation of the rental equity balance and rental payments. The amendments, which came into effect on 1 July 2015, reduce the monthly cost for these borrowers and avoid rental equity balances increasing for the remaining term. In addition, the variable mortgage interest rate charged to local authority borrowers was reduced to 2.3% with effect from 1 July 2016, which has helped many shared ownership borrowers.
An innovative shared ownership restructuring option has been available to shared ownership borrowers since 2016, and involves rolling-up all outstanding debt under a share ownership arrangement into a single annuity loan. The term of the annuity loan will be determined by the amount of the monthly repayment deemed to be affordable and sustainable for each shared ownership borrower. This restructuring option allows the borrower to have a regularised, restructured repayment solution, which is more easily understood. This arrangement may be of particular benefit to those shared ownership borrowers who are nearing the end of their annuity term but who have not made sufficient provision for the repayment of their rental equity balance. The feasibility of this new option for each shared ownership borrower will be determined by their local authority, and may not be appropriate in all cases. For example, in some instances, continuing with the current shared ownership arrangement may be the best option for both the shared ownership borrower and the local authority, or in other cases where the outstanding debt may not be sustainable for the borrower in the long-term, the Local Authority Mortgage to Rent (LAMTR) option might ultimately be the appropriate solution.
There is no obligation on any shared ownership borrower to restructure their loan arrangement and local authorities in implementing the restructuring option will direct shared ownership borrowers to seek financial and legal advice prior to accepting any offer of a restructuring option. The new Abhaile Service, accessed via MABS, can assist shared ownership borrowers who are in arrears to access free independent expert financial and legal advice. Full details of the supports offered by the Abhaile Service are available from https://www.mabs.ie/en/abhaile/. Under the restructuring option, where shared ownership borrowers require financial and legal advice outside of that provided via MABS, local authorities will arrange to pay the cost of these fees to a maximum of €1,000, excluding VAT. Detailed guidance, training and direction have been provided by my Department and the Housing Agency to local authorities regarding the implementation of the measure and my Department is continuing to monitor the impact of the new measure for borrowers.
Details on the measures available to borrowers with shared ownership arrangements are available from their local authority. Overall, local authority borrowers are encouraged to engage with their local authority at the earliest opportunity if they are having difficulties making the repayments on their shared ownership arrangement. Information in relation to the local authority mortgage arrears resolution process (MARP) and the help available to borrowers is also available on my Department's website at the following link:
http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/home-ownership/mortgage-arrears/guidance-mortgage-arrears.
