Seanad debates

Thursday, 14 October 2021

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Social Welfare Schemes

10:30 am

Photo of John CumminsJohn Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys. The premise of this matter is to call for the removal of the disablement benefit as a disqualifying payment for the winter fuel allowance for those persons who meet the income means test, which is currently set at €100 above the State contributory pension plus the living alone and dependant's allowance. This will rise to €120 from 1 January as a result of the decisions made in budget 2022 by the Government, and this is very welcome.

I admit I was not aware of the disablement benefit payment until this matter was brought to my attention by two separate constituents in County Waterford over the past 12 months. The payment is administered under the occupational injuries scheme and it can be paid if a person suffers a loss of physical or mental faculty because of an accident at work, an accident travelling directly to or from work or by getting a prescribed disease contracted at work. Payment is only made where the level of disablement following the accident or disease is at 15% or more. Where the level of disablement is assessed at 20% or more, a benefit is paid weekly or every four weeks.

My issue is that disablement benefit is classified as a disqualifying payment for the winter fuel allowance along with other social insurance payments like the jobseeker's benefit, illness benefit and maternity benefit. If a person is in receipt of a 40% weekly disablement payment of €93.60, which is below the €100 threshold for additional income, that person is still automatically excluded from the winter fuel allowance scheme. This is unjust and wrong, and it is probably on account of the payment being classified as a benefit instead of an allowance. The net result is we are saying that if a person has a small private pension of less than €100 per week on top of the contributory pension and living alone allowance, the State will support him or her with rising fuel costs to the tune of €924 per year via the winter fuel allowance. If a former worker, however, was unfortunate enough to be in a workplace accident or pick up a respiratory illness due to working with asbestos, for example, the State will not be in a position to support him or her with rising heating costs. This is an anomaly that must be addressed and I ask the Minister of State to raise this query with the Department so that it can be addressed without delay.

To be clear, I am not asking for those in receipt of disablement benefit who are above the means test limit to be included. I am merely asking that those in receipt of the payment who are below the income means test are factored in. Currently, this would mean that those in receipt of the 40%, 30% and or the 20% disablement benefit payment would qualify, and from January people in receipt of the 50% disablement benefit would also be able to avail of the fuel allowance. It is only right and proper that the Government consider this move. I certainly believe it to be a reasonable proposal and I would not bring it the floor of the Seanad if I did not see it as reasonable. I certainly hope it can be looked at favourably.

Photo of Malcolm NoonanMalcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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As the Senator knows, the Department of Social Protection pays a range of benefit and assisted income supports, including fuel allowance, which is available to long-term social welfare recipients. On 27 September 2021, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys, announced the start of the national fuel scheme for the 2021-22 season. A budget of €292 million has been set aside for this season to pay an estimated 370,000 households. The purpose of the payment is to assist the households with their energy costs and the allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full and only one allowance is paid per household.

On Tuesday this week, in budget 2022, the fuel allowance was increased by €5 per week. The means threshold was increased and eligibility was extended for certain groups. As a result, it is now a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks from October to April, giving a total of €924 per recipient in a full fuel season from now on.

Disablement benefit is a benefit under the occupational injuries scheme. It can be paid to a recipient who suffers a loss of physical or mental faculty because of an accident at work, an accident travelling directly to or from work or a prescribed disease contracted at work. The contribution requirements for the scheme are minimal when compared with other Department benefit schemes. Payment is only made when the level of disablement following an accident or disease is assessed at 15% or more. The rate of benefit depends on the degree of disablement. It is paid at a personal rate without increase for dependants.

In 2020, the estimated expenditure on the scheme was almost €70 million, with over 14,500 recipients supported through the scheme. People in receipt of disablement benefit without another payment may work full-time or part-time and continue to receive benefit payment. In other words, they are not prevented from generating additional income. In the alternative, it can be and is paid in conjunction with most social welfare payments, including the jobseeker's benefit, the jobseeker's allowance, disability allowance, the invalidity pension, the State pension and the one-parent family payment. It is not considered as means for most social welfare means-assessed schemes, except for fuel allowance, supplementary welfare allowance or the working family payment.

An incapacity supplement is an increase payable in addition to disablement benefit where a person is considered to be permanently incapable of work as a result of an occupational accident or disease and does not qualify for another social welfare benefit, such as illness benefit.The incapacity supplement is a qualifying payment for fuel allowance. Therefore, while disablement benefit on its own is a disqualifying payment for fuel allowance, because a person may continue to take up work or may receive another social welfare payment in parallel, qualification for incapacity supplement in addition to disablement benefit qualifies that recipient for fuel allowance, subject to satisfying all other criteria.

The criteria for fuel allowance are framed in order to direct limited resources available to the Department of Social Protection in as targeted a manner as possible. In budget 2022, the Government has already made a significant commitment to extending the fuel allowance both in terms of the value of the payment for recipients and extending the means of threshold, and shortening the time limit required of all jobseeker allowance and basic supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, recipients across the access scheme. This additional investment will cost €60 million in 2022.

Disablement benefit can be paid to people in employment and in addition to most social welfare payments. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, exceptional need payments may be made to help meet an essential once-off cost which customers are unable to meet from their own resources. This may include exceptional heating costs.

Removing disablement benefit as a disqualifying payment for fuel allowance would require careful consideration within the overall policy and budgetary context and I understand that the Department is examining this matter.

Photo of John CumminsJohn Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply and, in particular, the last line of his response that that the Department is examining this matter, which is positive.

I will emphasise again some of the points I made earlier. I am not looking for this for everybody who is in receipt of disablement benefit, and the Minister of State said there were 14,500 recipients. I am asking about somebody who is in receipt of that payment and is below the means test. What percentage of those 14,500 recipients are in receipt of 50% or less? I would argue that it is a significantly lower figure.

The Minister of State's response stated that qualification for incapacity supplement in addition to disablement benefit qualifies the recipient for the fuel allowance. The issue here is with older people, in particular, who have transitioned on to the pension and will not be able to receive that supplement payment. These are the two constituents I am referring to here, that is, people who are long since out of work and are living on their own and are struggling with rising fuel costs. They are being excluded from support under the fuel allowance because in one case the person was unfortunate enough to have had a workplace accident while in the other case the person has a respiratory illness as a direct result of work. I do not think that that is right and proper.

Photo of Malcolm NoonanMalcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator again for his comments. I reiterate the Government's commitment to providing income supports to the most vulnerable, in particular in the context of the fuel allowance. This was demonstrated in last Tuesday's budget with rate increases for both the fuel allowance and the living alone allowance as well as extended eligibility for the fuel allowance for certain cohorts of long-term welfare recipients and an increase in the means threshold.

Other supports are available in addition to the fuel allowance. The household benefits package consists of a set of allowances which help with the cost of running a household and include allowances towards covering electricity or gas costs. Recipients, the majority of whom are pensioners, are paid €35 a month. The Department of Social Protection will spend approximately €195 million this year on the household benefits package to almost half a million customers.

The targeted flexible support provided to those in need by the supplementary welfare allowance must also be emphasised. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, exceptional needs payment may be made to help meet an essential once-off cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources and this may include exceptional costs.

Of course, the best long-term approach is for Ireland to insulate customers from rising energy costs and that is to invest in energy-efficiency. Budget 2022 commits €202 million in carbon tax revenue to fund the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland residential and community retrofit schemes and a further €10 million from the Exchequer for the solar photovoltaic, PV, scheme. This investment will support more than 22,000 homes in energy upgrades, including more than 6,000 homes to building energy rating of B2. It will deliver warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes with lower energy bills.

Some €109 million under this €202 million allocation will be used to provide free energy efficiency upgrades to households that are in or at risk of energy poverty. more than 4,500 upgrades will be carried out under the SEAI scheme and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will invest a further €85 million as part of the local authority retrofit programme in 2022.

Having said all that, I accept that the issue the Senator has raised is a specific one. As he correctly said, it is an anomaly and I will certainly take that on board. I believe the Minister will provide a response on the specific issue the Senator quite rightly highlighted that could affect quite a large number of older and vulnerable people, in particular.

Sitting suspended at 11.14 a.m. and resumed at 11.30 a.m.