Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 388: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when the advisory group on tax and social welfare will publish its report looking at child and family income supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41219/11]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 408: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when she expects to receive a report from the Chairperson of the Commission on Social Welfare and Taxation on payments to persons with disabilities; the terms of reference of this report; her plans to publish this report; if there will be an opportunity for consultation with and input from persons with disabilities into any review in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1069/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 388 and 408 together.

Creating jobs and tackling poverty are two of the key challenges that we face. It is essential that our tax and social protection systems play their part in addressing these issues and ensure that work is worthwhile. To this end, I established an Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare in June of last year with the aim of harnessing expert opinion and experience in order to address a number of specific issues. These include making cost-effective proposals for improving employment incentives and achieving better poverty outcomes, particularly child poverty outcomes.

The Group has been asked to examine a number of specific issues and make recommendations on these, including child and family income supports, working age income supports, the appropriate unit of assessment in both the tax and social welfare codes, the interaction of the tax and social welfare codes, issues concerning social insurance for self-employed people and any other issues that may be referred to it.

While I received a progress report from the Advisory Group in advance of Budget 2012, the Group has not reached definitive conclusions on the future development of child income support payments. However, I understand that the Group will be returning to this issue when it resumes its work this month and that the Group will continue to prioritise this issue.

I recently asked the Group to examine and report on the policy objectives underpinning the Budget 2012 proposals regarding changes in eligibility criteria and rates of payment for Disability Allowance and the increase in the age threshold for payment of Domiciliary Care Allowance and to assess the overall effectiveness of these proposals in delivering on these objectives. In light of these extended terms of reference, I expect that when the Group resumes its work, it will be examining its work programme for the coming months, including the need for a consultation process on this new issue.

The Group's overall method of working is based on producing modular reports on the priority areas identified in the terms of reference. Where possible, the aim is to provide recommendations that can be acted upon in time for the annual budget/estimates and legislative cycle and to allow the Government to best address its commitments under the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support.