Seán Sherlock
Ceist:224. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the engagement she or the agencies under her remit has had with the national broadband plan in the past two months. [38209/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraNational Broadband Plan
Ceisteanna (224)
Freagraí scríofa
Neither I nor any of the agencies under the aegis of my Department has had any engagement with the National Broadband Plan in the past two months.
Social Welfare Benefits
Ceisteanna (225)
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:225. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will urgently reinstate payment of child benefit for the summer months to parents and guardians of school going 16 to 18 year olds that are unable to provide written confirmation required from her Department as schools are now closed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38218/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Child benefit is a monthly payment, payable to age 16 years and is subsequently payable to age 18 where the child remains in full time education.
Where a child turns 16, the parent/guardian needs to get confirmation from the school that their child is still attending. Each month, the Department issues a notification to parents for all children who are due to turn 16, requesting this information.
Last year this requirement was deferred owing to the fact that schools were closed due to the Covid pandemic and it was accepted that having the forms completed by schools could present difficulty for parents.
As schools have been open in 2021, the normal process has applied this year and all parents should have received notification in the normal way. The Department was contacted by a number of parents who have not received payment in July and is now aware that an issue has arisen in respect of a number of children who had been certified as in continued education by the department last year to the end of the 2021 academic year and where the relevant certification form for continuation of payment had not issued in time.
The Department has immediately addressed this issue and the Child Benefit payment in respect of July is being made on the 13th July for those paid by EFT and on the 14th July for those collecting their payment at a post office. In addition, eligibility for these children has been extended to the end of September 2021. A "continuing in education" certificate will issue in August in respect of these children, once completed by the school and returned, their eligibility can be further extended, either to the end of the education cycle or their 18th birthday, whichever comes first.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
Social Welfare Schemes
Ceisteanna (226, 227, 228)
Claire Kerrane
Ceist:226. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of removing the requirement to be in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance for at least 15 months in order to qualify for the part-time job incentive scheme; the estimated number of additional recipients that would qualify for such if this change was introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38219/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraClaire Kerrane
Ceist:227. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if the part-time job incentive scheme is open to jobseekers aged 18 to 25; if she will advise on the decision to set the minimum weekly jobseeker’s allowance rate for the scheme at a rate which locks many young persons out of accessing this scheme in consideration of the scheme requirement for participants to be in receipt of a minimum weekly jobseeker’s allowance rate of €128.60 and the standard rate of €112.70 for young persons on jobseeker’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38224/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraClaire Kerrane
Ceist:228. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of removing the minimum weekly rate requirement for the part-time job incentive scheme to extend eligibility to include all jobseekers aged 18 to 25; the estimated number of additional recipients that would qualify for such if this change was enacted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38225/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 226 to 228, inclusive, together.
The Part-time Job Incentive Scheme is an administrative scheme under Jobseeker's Allowance, which allows those who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a special weekly income supplement of €128.60, or €209.70 where a person is receiving an increase for a qualified adult. It is intended as a stepping stone to full time work as a recipient of the payment must be available for and seeking full time employment.
A person must satisfy all of the qualifying conditions of the administrative scheme which include that they must be in receipt of long-term jobseeker’s allowance for at least 390 days (15 months). Their weekly rate of jobseekers allowance payment must also be higher than the weekly rate of part time job incentive payable.
From a labour market perspective, it is important that the supports available do not inadvertently encourage employers to offer minimal hours of employment to young people. The Department's focus is to increase labour market participation of young people who are not in employment, education, or, training (NEETs). The recently-published Pathways to Work 2021-2025 will invest significantly in employment supports for young people, by introducing and ring-fencing places on work placement programmes, by increasing the availability of apprenticeships, traineeships and education places and by offering employers attractive subsidies when they recruit young unemployed people.
This week, the Government also launched a new Work Placement Experience Programme. This new programme will benefit 10,000 jobseekers of all ages, who have been unemployed for more than six months. This initiative will keep jobseekers close to the labour market and provide them with quality work experience to increase their prospects of returning to employment. The payment rate for participants on this programme is set at €306 per week.
While the age-related rate for a young jobseeker aged 18 to 24 is €112.70, a young person can receive the maximum weekly payment of €203 if he or she participates on an education or training programme, increasing to €306 on the new Work Placement Experience Programme.
It is not possible to identify those jobseekers aged 18 to 25 who may wish to avail of the Part Time Job Incentive scheme. However, if the requirement to be in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance at a higher rate than the part time job incentive weekly rate, along with the current minimum 15 month requirement, were both removed, it is estimated that the total annual cost would be €19.6 million. This is a differential in cost of €1.65 million over that being paid under jobseeker's allowance and assumes that 20% of the 14,670 people aged 18 to 25 inclusive who are in receipt of a personal rate of jobseeker's allowance would claim the part time job incentive.
Similarly, it is not possible to identify those jobseekers who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for less than 15 months who may wish to avail of the PTJI. However, there are currently over 11,800 people across all ages who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for less than 15 months at a rate lower than the equivalent part time job incentive rate. Should 20% of this group claim part time job incentive, the annual cost is estimated at approximately €17.7 million representing a differential in cost of €4.5 million over that being paid under jobseeker's allowance for this group.
Any changes to existing schemes could only be considered in a budgetary context.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
Question No. 227 answered with Question No. 226.
Question No. 228 answered with Question No. 226.
Public Services Card
Ceisteanna (229)
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Ceist:229. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures being taken to tackle the backlog of appointment requests for public services cards in Cork city; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38229/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Public Services Card (PSC) appointments were suspended from the beginning of this year due to Level 5 restrictions. However, some appointments were facilitated for urgent cases where the customer had no alternative means of accessing public services other than by acquiring a PSC.
My Department resumed PSC appointments from Monday 17th May, and an average of 1,000 appointments are now being carried out each day.
It is the case that some offices of the Department are experiencing high levels of demand for appointments. Additional staff are being assigned to increase the capacity in our offices in respect of such appointments, and that capacity will be increased over the coming weeks.
Any person who requires a PSC should contact their local Intreo Centre or Branch Office to schedule an appointment.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Departmental Correspondence
Ceisteanna (230)
Thomas Pringle
Ceist:230. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are guidelines, written procedures or protocols or key performance indicators for acknowledgement of correspondence received and response to correspondence received, respectively by category of correspondence (details supplied) in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38249/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department is committed to providing a timely response to all correspondence received, be it from T.D.s and Senators or member of the public. It set out a number of detailed customer service commitments in the Department of Social Protection's Customer Charter 2020 – 2022.
This Charter provides a clear commitment to acknowledging all correspondence received from members of the public within a maximum of 3 working days and to respond to correspondence received from members of the public within a maximum of 15 working days. The Charter also provides that where directly corresponding with an individual, Department staff must provide a contact name, telephone number, email address or postal address, so that follow up is made simpler for the individual, should that be required. The Charter is available online at the following link: gov.ie - Customer Charter and Customer Action Plan (www.gov.ie)
In additions, special TD enquiry phonelines are maintained within the Department to facilitate engagement with T.D.s and Senators, to provide factual information or to engage on specific matters relating to T.D. inquiries.
Social Welfare Offices
Ceisteanna (231)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:231. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the staffing levels at each INTREO public offices operated by her Department in County Kildare in each of the years 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, by location in tabular form. [38263/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department, like all Government departments and agencies is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget.
The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to new demands across a wide range of services. This is to ensure that the best use is made of available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department.
The following table details the numbers working in each of the Intreo public offices in Kildare. My Department’s offices in Celbridge were closed in 2019. The work is now covered by the office in Maynooth. These figures are fulltime equivalents which take account of staff that avail of work-sharing.
|
Location |
Dec-19 |
Dec-20 |
Jun- 21 |
|
Athy |
5.00 |
5.00 |
6.00 |
|
Newbridge |
69.3 |
68.50 |
68.00 |
|
Maynooth |
9.00 |
8.20 |
9.00 |
|
Naas |
3.00 |
1.00 |
2.00 |
|
TOTAL |
86.30 |
82.70 |
85.00 |
Employment Support Services
Ceisteanna (232)
Seán Sherlock
Ceist:232. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection if a process has been established in writing to establish the learnings from the RFT 1 on local employment services; the timeline for same; the persons and bodies that will be involved; and if stakeholder voices will be included. [38326/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Following a review of public employment services by external consultants and in the context of expiring contracts for the provision of existing public employment services at the end of 2021, my Department is undertaking a significant procurement exercise over two phases.
The first phase, already underway, focuses on the expansion of employment services in seven counties in the North-West and Midlands currently without a local employment service. The deadline for the submission of tenders for this Regional Employment Service model recently passed and the evaluation process will begin shortly.
The second phase entails the extension of the Regional Employment Services model throughout the rest of the State, as well as consideration of a replacement of the JobPath service.
As the procurement process for Phase 1 is still ongoing, my officials are already reviewing the process for any lessons that can be taken from it, and will continue to do so as we move through the phases.
My Department has - and will continue to in the future - engaged with relevant external bodies as appropriate, while respecting the integrity of the procurement process.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Employment Support Services
Ceisteanna (233)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:233. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of counties that do not have a local employment service. [38339/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
There are 14 counties that do not have a Local Employment Service. These are Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Westmeath.
My Department is currently finalising a new model of employment services for some regions where there are no local employment services. This is to be followed by the roll-out of new models of employment services across the State, to be in place for January 2022 when current contracts for existing employment services expire.
Employment Support Services
Ceisteanna (234)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:234. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the engagements she has had with Seetec and or Turas Nua and other similar service providers in respect of expanding their role in the State in respect of employment activation schemes specifically in the area of local employment services and the new pathways to work strategy. [38340/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Neither I nor my Department have had specific engagement with Seetec or Turas Nua in respect of expanding their current role. Both entities have existing contracts with my Department which provides for referrals of long-term unemployed clients until end-2021.
The Pathways to Work 2021-2025 strategy represents Ireland’s national employment services strategy and overall framework for activation and employment support and was published on the 12th of July.
The procurement of the Intreo Regional Employment Service is distinct and separate from the JobPath service and under the principle of fair and equal treatment in respect of procurement regulations, all entities are free to submit a tender under a Request for Tender.
Social Welfare Eligibility
Ceisteanna (235)
Claire Kerrane
Ceist:235. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if allowances will be made for self-employed preschool teachers to be eligible for jobseeker’s benefit or allowance during non-term time in recognition of the provision made for other school staff who are not employed by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38349/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Jobseeker's Benefit Self Employed scheme, introduced in November 2019 under the Social Welfare Act 2019, is a social insurance contribution based income support payment for qualifying self-employed people. The provision provides a supportive environment for entrepreneurship, including an income safety net to both employees and self-employed people.
Many of the features of this benefit scheme for the self-employed are similar to the existing Jobseeker's benefit scheme for employees. These include the duration and the rates of payment, including increases for adult and child dependents. Other fundamental conditions that apply to both schemes are that the person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time work.
Not all features of both schemes are the same which reflects the differences that exist between the nature of self-employment and working as an employee. To qualify for payment for a self-employed person, a claimant must meet the conditions for the new scheme including the condition of “not being engaged in self-employment.” A self-employed person who in the ordinary course of their business closes their business on a planned, temporary or seasonal basis does not satisfy this condition.
Where a self- employed person does not meet the conditionality for Jobseeker's Benefit Self Employed they may apply for support under the means tested Jobseeker's Allowance scheme, subject to satisfying the conditions of that scheme. The maximum weekly personal rate for the Jobseekers schemes is €203 and increases are paid for qualifying adults and child dependants.
I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Ceisteanna (236)
Richard Bruton
Ceist:236. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn the fact that actors can get very sporadic access to work which would force them to sign off PUP but which would not represent a sustainable opportunity to re-establish their self-employed income on a medium term basis; and if a special category under PUP or some other mechanism could be found to allow such persons avail of income support after the opportunity has been exhausted. [38367/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) is an emergency payment for employees and self- employed people who lost employment as a direct consequence of Covid 19. Due to the lifting of public health restrictions and the progress on the vaccine rollout the requirement for emergency measures has diminished as thousands of employees return to work each week.
Under the Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan, the PUP has been extended for existing claimants in recognition that some sectors will remain impacted for a longer period. The scheme closed for new applications from 7th July. To allow as much time as possible for the economy to recover and employments to reopen, there will be no change to the PUP rate until 7th September when it will be gradually reduced on a tapered basis, over a 6 month period, until February 2022 back to Jobseeker terms.
Self-employed PUP recipients, including self-employed actors, may take up some limited self-employment. A person can earn up to €960, net of expenses, over an eight week period and maintain their full PUP entitlement. Furthermore, if a self-employed person takes up limited self-employment of up to 24 hours per week, they can retain income support under the Part Time Job Incentive. Those who are eligible will receive a weekly rate of payment of €128.60. There is no income limit applied in these cases. The extension of the Part Time Job Incentive to self- employed people will continue until the end of the current year.
A self employed person who is continuing to trade but has limited income has the option of applying for Jobseeker's Allowance subject to satisfying the statutory scheme conditions including the means test.
I should also mention that there is a specific exclusion under the genuinely seeking work condition applied to Jobseeker's Allowance for professional artists. The Scheme is available to professional artists of specified art forms. It acknowledges the status of self-employed artists, including professional actors and gives them 12 months to focus on building up their work without being subject to the requirement to engage in activation as is the case for other Jobseeker's Allowance recipients.
For self-employed people who are no longer trading, they may be eligible for support under Jobseeker's Benefit Self Employed.
The €1,000 Covid-19 Enterprise Support Grant to assist self-employed people to restart their business will continue to be available to self-employed people closing PUP claims until the end of 2021. Self-employed people closing their PUP claim since 1 June 2021 to reopen their business will be able to avail of this grant even if they have previously claimed it as part of a reopening in 2020.
I trust that this information is of assistance to the Deputy.
Social Welfare Schemes
Ceisteanna (237)
Paul Kehoe
Ceist:237. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the working family payment for a person (details supplied); when the payment will be reinstated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38369/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Working Family Payment (WFP) is an in-work payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children. In order to qualify for WFP, an applicant must be engaged in full-time paid employment as an employee for not less than 38 hours per fortnight.
Working Family Payment for the person concerned was due for renewal from 19 May 2021.
In order to determine his eligibility for working family payment his file was referred to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) to review.
This Social Welfare Inspector’s review has now been completed and the person concerned has now been awarded WFP from 19 May 2021 to 18 May 2022.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
Social Welfare Schemes
Ceisteanna (238)
Niamh Smyth
Ceist:238. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection the circumstances under which a person can access rent supplement and or HAP when they are not on a local authority housing list. [38385/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Rent supplement continues to play a key role in supporting families and individuals in private rented accommodation, with the scheme supporting 17,700 active recipients at the end of June 2021.
The scheme provides short-term income 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. The scheme ensures that those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed due to temporary loss of employment or income, can continue to meet their rental commitments.
To qualify for Rent Supplement, an officer must be satisfied that, at the time of application, the claimant was previously in receipt of a rent supplement payment within 12 months of the date of application; or was residing in private rented accommodation, where at the commencement of the tenancy the person could have reasonably afforded the rent, and has experienced a substantial change in his or her circumstances.
Whether a person is on the housing list or not does not affect supplement entitlement. However, where a person is not eligible for the scheme generally they are referred to their local housing authority to have their housing needs assessed and, if successful, would be placed on the housing list.
The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is administered by Local Authorities. Policy relating to the qualifying conditions for access to HAP is a matter for the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
State Pensions
Ceisteanna (239)
Brendan Griffin
Ceist:239. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on a pro-rata State pension (contributory) application by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38426/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The person concerned reached pension age on 25 November 2020. They applied for State pension (contributory) on 17 May 2021. According to the records of my Department, they have a total of 143 paid full-rate Irish social insurance contributions. Since their contributions fall short of the requisite 520 paid full-rate contributions, they do not qualify for standard State pension (contributory) based solely on their Irish social insurance record. They were notified of this decision in writing on 26 May 2021.
The person’s entitlement to a pro rata State pension (contributory), based on their combined Irish and UK contribution records, is under investigation. Their UK social insurance record has been requested from the UK pension authority. As soon as this information is provided, a decision can be made on the person’s pension entitlement and they will be notified in writing of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
State Pensions
Ceisteanna (240)
Brendan Griffin
Ceist:240. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on a pro-rata widow’s contributory pension application by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38428/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Entitlement to Widow(er)’s or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension is based on the social insurance record of either the applicant or their deceased spouse or civil partner. In order to qualify, a person must have a minimum yearly average of 24 contributions based on either their own or their late spouse’s Irish insurance record. The person concerned has a yearly average of 14 contributions. Her late spouse did not have any Irish social insurance.
Under European Union Regulations, a person’s social insurance record in one or more EU countries can be combined with their Irish social insurance record, to determine entitlement to a proportional or pro rata pension. The Department contacted the relevant pension authority in the UK requesting the UK contribution record for the person concerned. The reply, just received, indicates that the person concerned does not have any contributions paid in the UK. Therefore, there is no entitlement to a pro rata pension under their own record. As their late spouse did not have any Irish social insurance there is no entitlement to a pro rata pension based on his record either.
A decision letter has issued to the person concerned today.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
Citizens Information Services
Ceisteanna (241)
Matt Carthy
Ceist:241. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost to increase the amount of income disregarded in respect of the farm assist scheme from 30% to 40%, 50%, 60% and 70%, respectively. [38453/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Farm Assist Scheme is a means-tested statutory income support payment for farmers on low incomes. Recipients of the payment retain the advantages of the Jobseeker's allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2021 Further Revised Estimate for my Department provides for expenditure of €61.7 million on the scheme.
To qualify for Farm Assist, a person must be a farmer, be farming land in the State, be aged between 18 and 66 and satisfy a means test.
The assessment of means for the purpose of qualifying for Farm Assist is designed to reflect the actual net income from farming. Income and expenditure figures for the preceding year are generally used as an indicator of the expected position in the following year. However, account is taken of any exceptional circumstances so as to ensure that the assessment accurately reflects the current situation.
In the means test, farm income and any other income from self-employment are assessed at 70%. There are disregards of €254 for each of the first two children and €381 for the third and other children. The disregards for dependent children are applied first and 70% of the balance is assessed.
The approximate estimated annual cost of increasing the income disregard to 40% would be €3 million; to 50% would be €6 million; to 60% would be €9 million; and to 70% would be €12 million. These estimated costs are for a full year and based on current numbers of farm assist recipients.
The Programme for Government provides a commitment to “conduct a review of the means test disregards for Farm Assist, with a view to better rewarding farmers who avail of the Scheme for their enterprise.”.
This review is underway and will consider all aspects of the means test for the farm assist scheme, including disregards.
Any changes to the Farm Assist scheme will have to be considered in a budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Departmental Strategies
Ceisteanna (242)
Holly Cairns
Ceist:242. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection the way her Department and public bodies and agencies under her remit are implementing Action 16 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38499/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Department of Social Protection (DSP) is committed to making the information on all its websites accessible to all.
The Department, for example, is committed to the adoption of Plain English and seeks to use plain English as widely as possible to make customer communications more effective and to make our services more understandable and accessible.
In 2019, the Department’s former website was replaced by the new central Government website gov.ie. During this process, the information for over 90 schemes and services was developed in plain English. Plain English web content for 150 service pages is now available. In migrating to gov.ie, the reading age of DSP services was reduced from 21 to 15.2 - and this is an ever-evolving process.
The Department has also designed its websites to follow guidelines set out by the W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium). The W3C WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) produces accessibility guidelines that are an internationally recognised benchmark of accessibility. Our sites currently comply with Level Double-A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.
The Department is committed to inclusive design, enabling websites which can be used by all users including those who may have cognitive or physical impairments. This means, for example, that our sites can be used with assistive technologies such as screen readers or by using a keyboard for navigation.
We also have accessibility statements on three of our websites, MyGovID, WelfarePartners and JobsIreland and will shortly add an accessibility statement to MyWelfare.
The Department has three agencies under its remit that have websites, the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority and the Pensions Council.
The Citizens Information Board’s websites meet the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 as set out in the accessibility statements on citizensinformation.ie, citizensinformationboard.ie and mabs.ie. CIB is to undertake full accessibility audit of its websites and, once that is done, the websites’ accessibility statements will include additional statements as required under the European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020. The Pensions Authority website meets the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and currently has an accessibility statement. The Pensions Council website is currently being reviewed and, as part of this process, an accessibility statement will be added to this site.
The Department remains committed to further developing its content and sites in line with its commitments under the NDIS.
Departmental Strategies
Ceisteanna (243)
Holly Cairns
Ceist:243. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection the way her Department and public bodies and agencies under her remit are implementing Action 32 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38516/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Department sees it as critical that it engages with people with lived experience of disability to hear their experiences and perspectives in the development of policies and programmes in order to meet their needs. In addition to its broader stakeholder meetings and customer engagement activities, the Department consults with people with disabilities, through a wide range of approaches, including:
- direct meetings with stakeholders;
- research, the use of questionnaires, surveys and focus groups;
- meetings with the Community and Voluntary Pillar (CVP) twice per year;
- the annual pre-budget and post budget fora;
- the annual carers' forum;
- participation on national groups in conjunction with stakeholders, for example: the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDIS-SG), and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy (for people with disabilities) Implementation Group (CES-IG);
- Disability Consultative Forum (DCF) meetings. This group meets each quarter, with meetings providing a space for stakeholders to highlight concerns, discuss and raise queries with regards to services/schemes and contribute to the development of policies;
- meetings held with its dedicated Disability Consultative Committee (DCC). This committee is comprised of persons with disabilities and their representatives, who monitor the Department’s delivery of its commitments under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy. Meetings are held quarterly and the committee, through the Chair of the Disability Stakeholders Group (DSG), delivers a report to the full NDIS-SG twice a year.
The Department intends to further develop its consultative processes through engagement with the Participation and Consultation Network (PCN) established in 2020. The development of this network is being funded and overseen by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth (D/CEDIY) and the network aims to support the building of capacity within its members to participate in policy development processes, as envisaged under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN CRPD). D/CEDIY, with the PCN, have to date been focused on the national consultation process to develop Ireland’s first State report to the UN under the CRPD, to be submitted later this year.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
Departmental Data
Ceisteanna (244)
Aindrias Moynihan
Ceist:244. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection the current length of time it takes to process and approve a range of payments (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38594/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
In response to the Deputy's request the following table summarises the average number of weeks to award payments for the requested schemes based on the latest operational data available (for May 2021):
|
Scheme |
Av. weeks to award |
|
Illness Benefit |
1 |
|
Jobseeker's Benefit |
1 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
6 |
|
Domiciliary Care Allowance |
9 |
Citizens Information Services
Ceisteanna (245)
Pauline Tully
Ceist:245. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the budget allocation of the Citizens' Information Board in each of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38693/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Department of Social Protection budget allocation for the Citizens' Information Board for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 are detailed in the following table:-
|
Budget Allocation Year |
€000 |
|
2019 |
59,260 |
|
2020 |
61,774 |
|
2021 |
62,222 |
Departmental Data
Ceisteanna (246)
Gary Gannon
Ceist:246. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will reinstate child benefit payments to continue to be paid to families with children between the ages of 16-18 years over the summer months until school reopens given this practice was able to be facilitated in 2020 and in view of the continued extreme financial burden placed on families due to Covid-19; if this practice will be repeated in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38698/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Child benefit is payable to age 16 years and is subsequently payable to age 18 where the child remains in full time education.
Where a child turns 16, the parent/guardian needs to get confirmation from the school that their child is still attending. Each month, the Department issues a notification to parents for all children who are due to turn 16, requesting this information.
Last year this requirement was deferred owing to the fact that schools were closed due to the Covid pandemic and it was accepted that having the forms completed by schools could present difficulty for parents.
As schools have been open in 2021, the normal process has applied this year and all parents should have received notification in the normal way. The Department was contacted by a number of parents who have not received payment in July and is aware that an issue has arisen in respect of a number of children who had been certified as in continued education by the department last year to the end of the 2021 academic year and where the relevant certification form for continuation of payment had not issued in time.
The Department has immediately addressed this issue and the Child Benefit payment in respect of July is being made on the 13th July for those paid by EFT and on the 14th July for those collecting their payment at a post office. In addition, eligibility for these children has been extended to the end of September 2021. A "continuing in education" certificate will issue in August in respect of these children, once completed by the school and returned, their eligibility can be further extended, either to the end of the education cycle or their 18th birthday, whichever comes first.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
Departmental Data
Ceisteanna (247)
Gary Gannon
Ceist:247. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of child benefit payments that were not paid 6 July 2021 due to children being over the age of 16 years within the summer months before school reopens.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38699/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Child benefit is a monthly payment, payable to age 16 years and is subsequently payable to age 18 where the child remains in full time education.
Where a child turns 16, the parent/guardian needs to get confirmation from the school that their child is still attending. Each month, the Department issues a notification to parents for all children who are due to turn 16, requesting this information.
Last year this requirement was deferred owing to the fact that schools were closed due to the Covid pandemic and it was accepted that having the forms completed by schools could present difficulty for parents.
As schools have been open in 2021, the normal process has applied this year and all parents should have received notification in the normal way. The department has been contacted by a number of parents who have not received payment in July and is now aware that an issue has arisen in respect of around 26,500 children who had been certified as in continued education by the department last year to the end of the 2021 academic year and where the relevant certification form for continuation of payment had not issued in time.
The Department has immediately addressed this issue and the Child Benefit payment in respect of July is being made on the 13th July for those paid by EFT and on the 14th July for those collecting their payment at a post office. In addition eligibility for these children has been extended to the end of September 2021. A "continuing in education" certificate will issue in August in respect of these children, once completed by the school and returned, their eligibility can be further extended, either to the end of the education cycle or their 18th birthday, whichever comes first.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
Departmental Data
Ceisteanna (248)
Gary Gannon
Ceist:248. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of continuing child benefit to children who are over the age of 18 years and in post-primary school. [38700/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Child benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child benefit is currently paid to over 637,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of more than €2.1 billion in 2021.
Families on low incomes may be able to avail of a number of social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:
- Increase for a Qualified Child (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;
- the Working Family Payment for low-paid employees with children; and
- the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.
These schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income and thereby support low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.
As part of Budget 2021, I increased the rates for a qualified child aged under 12 by €2 to €38 per week, and for a qualified child aged 12 or older by €5 to €45 per week. These increases came into effect in January.
Extending Child Benefit in respect of full time students in second level education who are over 18 years of age would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context. The information required to accurately estimate the cost such of an extension is not available. However, each additional 1,000 single child benefit claims would cost approximately €1.68 million per year.