Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his Department has carried out any research on the [i]de facto[/i] wage penalty imposed on mothers who work part-time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11809/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the Deputy is referring to a draft paper co-written by a researcher in the ESRI entitled Paying the Price for Reconciling Work and Family Life — comparing the wage penalty for mother's part-time work in Britain, Germany and the United States. I have no plans to commission research in this area but my Department will consider the issues raised in the context of its ongoing research contract with the ESRI.

Many of the issues on which the report is focused, namely taxation, maternity and parental leave, child care, working time legislation and school hours, are outside the remit of my Department. The issues of relevance for my Department include, in particular, the position of social welfare recipients where their spouse-partners engage in employment.

Where a person is in receipt of a social welfare payment, an increase may be paid in respect of a spouse or partner where she or he is considered to be mainly dependent on the social welfare recipient.

Where the spouse or partner engages in employment, she or he may earn up to €88.88 per week without this qualified adult increase being affected. In the majority of social welfare schemes, the increase is then withdrawn on a tapered, or gradual, basis where the person's spouse-partner is earning between €88.88 and €220 per week. Since this Government came into office, a number of changes to these tapered arrangements have been introduced with a view to ensuring that the impact of increases in earnings are not negated for families where the spouse is the sole earner and is in low paid employment. First, the range of income over which the qualified adult increase is withdrawn has been progressively extended. Second, provision was made for the deferral of the loss of half the child dependant allowance, CDA, until the earnings of the spouse-partner exceeds the upper bound of the income range. In addition, the qualified adult weekly rates have been increased annually in each budget package.

A spouse-partner's income is also taken into account in means tested social assistance schemes, an amount — depending on the level of employment — of weekly earnings from insurable employment being disregarded for means assessment purposes. A further 50% of the spouse-partner's remaining net pay is also disregarded across the majority of schemes.

One of the Department's principal in-work income supports is family income supplement, paid to both one and two-parent families, for parents in low income employment. The aim of the scheme is to preserve the incentive to take up or remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might otherwise only be marginally better off than if he or she were claiming other social welfare payments. It applies where a parent, or a combination of both parents, is employed for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight and where overall weekly income is below a specified threshold, which increases according to the number of dependent children in the family. The number of persons currently in receipt of family income supplement is 15,040 with an average weekly payment of €93.54.

In addition, child benefit is paid to all families with children. This is an employment-neutral, tax free, non-means tested monthly cash payment, therefore it is not affected by a change in the level of employment or parental earnings. Current monthly child benefit rates are €141.60 in respect of each of the first two children and €177.30 in respect of the third and subsequent children.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 91: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs of the 16 social welfare cuts introduced by his predecessor, which have been discontinued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11877/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Late last year, I conducted a review of the measures announced in November 2003 to assess their impact on affected people. During the course of that review I listened to the views expressed by members of this House, by the social partners and by voluntary groups and others I have met since becoming Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

On budget day, I announced new arrangements and the position now is as follows. The qualifying period for the back to education allowance is being reduced from 15 months to 12 months in September and, in addition, the cost of education allowance is being increased by €254 to €400. The transitional payment for recipients of one parent family payment has been restored and is now be available for a period of six months where a recipient's income exceeds €293 per week. The income limit for entitlement to half-rate child dependant allowances for unemployment, disability and related schemes has been increased since last January by €50 per week to €350.

The saving of €700,000 arising from last year's MABS supplement measure has been redirected to the money advice and budgeting service to enable it to further develop its services. A total of €2.3 million, an amount equivalent to the savings achieved by the discontinuation of crèche supplements, is now being made available to ensure that vulnerable families can continue to have access to crèche supports, for example, in cases where a social worker or public health nurse deems this necessary as part of his or her work with the family. I am consulting my colleagues, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform about the most appropriate way to channel this funding. An additional €2 million has been made available to improve the diet supplement arrangements.

Some €19 million in funding from the rent supplement scheme has been transferred to the local authorities as an initial measure to enable them to put long-term housing solutions in place. The six months rule for entitlement to rent supplement has been amended in order to ensure that bona fide tenants who experience a change of circumstances are not disadvantaged, for example, if they become ill or unemployed within six months of renting. Rent supplement now remains in payment unless a third offer of local authority accommodation has been refused. I did not raise the minimum contribution for rent supplement this year.

In addition, the measure relating to half-rate payments for widows and widowers and allied payments was amended earlier last year.

The full year cost of all of the measures I have outlined is €36 million in a full year.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the announcement by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his recent statement, of the decision to grant free local travel to pensioners; if he will enter into negotiations with the British authorities on a possible reciprocal arrangement to allow pensioners in each jurisdiction to benefit from free travel, particularly in view of the recommendations of the task force on policy regarding emigrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11839/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. It is also available to carers and to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments. It applies to travel within the State and cross-Border journeys between here and Northern Ireland.

There have been a number of proposals for extending entitlement for free travel to people living outside Ireland, including a proposal contained in the report of the task force on policy regarding emigrants, which was submitted to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2002.

Extending the scheme to visitors from other countries would have significant administrative and cost implications even if such an extension were confined to persons in receipt of Irish social welfare pensions. In 2000, it was estimated, for example, that the extension of the free travel scheme to EU pensioners could involve additional expenditure of the order of €10 million to €19 million, depending on the level of concession granted.

In respect of making free travel available to UK-based pensioners, apart from the cost and administrative implications, the legal implications arising from the prohibition of discrimination against pensioners of other EU member states would also have to be taken into account. If the scheme were extended along the lines suggested, it is likely that it would have to be extended to all pensioners who are EU nationals coming to Ireland for temporary stays. Such an extension would have to be considered in a budgetary context, taking account of other requests for extension of the free travel scheme. However, I am mindful that this matter has been raised in the House on a number of occasions recently and I am continuing my examination of the issues involved.

The Government is, in any event, committed to the introduction of a system of all-Ireland free travel for pensioners and other eligible categories of social welfare recipients, to enable pass holders to make onward journeys free of charge in each jurisdiction. Discussions are ongoing with the relevant authorities to progress this issue.