Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the social welfare allowance and rental allowance will be restored to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4825/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes a basic income support payment and a rent supplement payment, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, HSE. Neither I nor my Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims.

In calculating the amount of supplementary welfare allowance payable to any person the needs and means of the household are aggregated and are regarded as the needs and means of the claimant. The amount of payment is determined by the amount by which a person's means fall short of their needs. In addition, social welfare legislation provides for the exclusion of the following categories from receipt of assistance under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme: a person engaged in remunerative full-time employment or whose spouse or partner is engaged in full-time employment; a person attending a course of study other than in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed; and a person without employment by reason of a stoppage of work due to a trade dispute at his place of employment.

Accordingly, in order to determine entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance the executive must accurately verify the composition of the household so that the family's entitlement to a payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme can be established.

The HSE has advised that following a review of the supplementary welfare allowance entitlements of the person concerned, a decision was made to terminate payment of rent supplement and of the weekly basic supplementary welfare allowance, as it was not in a position to accurately determine the household composition.

The person concerned has appealed the decision to the executive's designated appeals officer. The executive has advised that a decision will be made in relation to the appeal shortly.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 129: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on allowing the one-parent family payment to recipients to retain all their secondary benefits for the duration of their participation in education and training programmes in view of the fact that almost 50% of one-parent family payment claimants only have a primary level education and the fact that he has identified the need to remove the barriers to lone parents in entering employment as one of his Department's priorities for 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4938/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Social welfare programmes aim to be responsive to the needs of those who depend on income maintenance support while providing incentives to assist people to become more independent financially, particularly through employment.

A number of measures have been introduced in recent years to remove disincentives to taking up employment and to assist in the transition from welfare to work. These measures include special means disregards and tapered withdrawal of benefits as earnings increase, the back to education allowance and employment support schemes such as the back to work programme.

People, including recipients of the one-parent family payment, are entitled to retain certain social welfare payments and other secondary benefits in total or in part for the duration of a community employment scheme, subject to certain conditions. Alternatively, they may qualify for secondary benefits under the standard rules of the scheme in question.

For most people the most significant secondary benefit is rent or mortgage interest supplement, which is paid under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. An income limit of €317.43 per week applies to the retention of these supplements. Back to work allowance and family income supplement, in cases where one or both of these are in payment, are disregarded in the assessment of the €317.43 weekly income limit. PRSI and reasonable travelling expenses are also disregarded in the means test. People with incomes above this limit are assessed and may qualify under the standard rules of the rent or mortgage interest supplement schemes.

Back to education allowance is designed to assist those who have not worked for some time to improve their employability and job-readiness by enabling them to improve their education level-qualifications.

Importantly, the back to education allowance payment is not a means tested payment. Participants receive a weekly allowance equivalent to the maximum standard rate of their one-parent family payment, hence lone parents previously on reduced rate of one-parent family payment get the equivalent of the maximum rate if they participate in the scheme. In addition, participants in the back to education allowance are paid an annual cost of education allowance of €400 at the beginning of each academic year. Participants may continue to receive any secondary benefits to which they would otherwise have an entitlement. These may include Christmas bonus, rent allowance-mortgage interest supplement.

The numbers of lone parents accessing the back to education allowance has increased from 626 in 2002-03 to 1,514 in 2004-05. One of the key tasks in the Ending Child Poverty initiative under Sustaining Progress is to address obstacles to employment for lone parents.

The Senior Officials Group on Social Inclusion was mandated late in 2004 to examine this issue and report back to the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion with specific proposals. A sub-group of the Senior Officials Group has been examining obstacles to employment for lone parent families, with particular emphasis on income supports, employment, education, child care and support programmes and information.

A working group was also established in my Department to review the income support arrangements for lone parents. This group has looked at issues including the contingency basis of the one-parent family payment, cohabitation, maintenance and secondary benefits. A consultation process with social partners and other interested parties was also undertaken to inform the work of the group.

I intend to make the findings of both working groups public in the near future and to engage in a consultation process with interested parties. It is my intention that the outcome of these reviews, together with initiatives already in place in my Department, will contribute to the ongoing development of proposals designed to better support and encourage lone parents in achieving a better standard of living, employment and education opportunities, a better future for themselves and their children, and a more appropriate social policy in the future.