Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 November 2022
89. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the way that her Department uses data modelling to assess the impact of social welfare payment rates; the way that data is disaggregated by demographics; the way that this is assessed with regard to poverty-proofing and addressing the cost of disability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59206/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraPoverty proofing, or a poverty impact assessment, is the process by which policies and programmes are assessed at design, implementation and review stages, with a view to poverty reduction. The Government decided in 2012 to incorporate poverty impact assessments into an integrated social impact assessment in order to support the implementation of the national social target for poverty reduction and to ensure greater policy coordination in the social sphere. Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely distributive effects of policies on household incomes, families, poverty and access to employment. In this regard, my Department uses the ESRI’s tax and benefit microsimulation model, SWITCH (Simulating Welfare Income, Tax, Childcare and Health), for assessing the distributive impacts of potential welfare measures based on data drawn from the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
Analysis using the SWITCH model is included in the Department's Tax Strategy Papers which are published in advance of the Budget, and in the Social Impact Assessment published after the Budget. It is also included in Budget Day documentation. The SWITCH model is also used for other specific projects or analysis, for instance, to support the work of the Pensions Commission in relation to changes to PRSI rates of payment.The SWITCH model allows us to model the potential impact of welfare measures on a range of demographics, including by income decile, quintile and by household type, namely single working-age without children, lone parent, working-age couples with children, working-age couples without children, single retirement age (66 or over) and retirement age couples (66 or over). SWITCH is a key component in the social impact assessments carried out by my Department as it allows us to model distributional impacts and consider the impact of policy initiatives on poverty rates. While the ESRI's SWITCH model cannot currently distinguish between households affected by disability and households unaffected by disability, it may be possible to incorporate this capability in time.In order to get a better understanding of the cost of disability the Government commissioned Indecon International Economic Consultants to carry out independent research into this area last year which led to the publication of the Cost of Disability Report in December 2021. The Government has referred the report to the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, chaired by Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte TD, and that Group is currently considering the actions required by various Government Departments on foot of the recommendations contained in the Indecon report.
