Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The Government has also decided to limit the treatment benefit scheme, from next January, to the medical appliances scheme and the free examination elements of dental and optical benefits. The position will be reviewed annually after that.

As Deputies are aware, treatment benefits are paid to insured persons from the social insurance fund, SIF. Although the SIF has operated a surplus since 1996, that position began to change last year when expenditure had to be partially funded from the accumulated surplus. Expenditure continued to exceed PRSI and investment income to the fund this year and it is expected that the accumulated surplus will be completely exhausted in the first half of 2010. It is estimated that the Exchequer will be required to subvent the fund by approximately €1.2 billion next year.

The changes to the treatment benefit scheme will save €54 million next year. The effect of the limitation of the scheme provided for in the Bill is that the treatments previously available under the scheme will be limited to dental and optical examinations. The hearing aid scheme will be retained as is. However, approximately 2 million insured persons will continue to be covered for the annual free examination and hearing aids and more than 400,000 people are likely to claim a dental examination and 200,000 an optical examination in 2010.

Turning to the rent supplement scheme, the Government is determined to ensure that reductions in rent levels generally in the year to date result in savings for the taxpayer. The maximum level of rent supplement payable by the State will be reviewed early in 2010 on the basis of the latest data available on general trends in rental prices. The maximum rent limits payable will be then adjusted and new limits will apply in respect of all new tenancies or renewals of tenancy from April 2010. Based on current information available about decreases in rent levels since April, the Department expects the rent review to lead to savings of €20 million in 2010. With rent prices falling in general, it is vital that taxpayers money is not used to pay inflated prices to landlords.

The budget also provides for an increase in the target for control and fraud savings next year to €533 million across all of the Department's 50 schemes. That is €33.3 million more than the level of control savings planned for 2010 in the pre-budget outlook. The additional savings are being targeted on the non-contributory State pension, illness benefit and one-parent family payments. The increased target also takes account of new anti-fraud powers included in the Bill which I will detail later. Welfare fraud is theft. It is a serious crime and the Department of Social and Family Affairs is doing everything possible to crack down on people who abuse the system.

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