Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the family income supplement will be renewed for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of the fact that their working hours have been restored. [22179/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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An application for Family Income Supplement (FIS) was received by my Department from the person concerned on 8 February 2006. One of the principal conditions for receipt of FIS is that a person must work at least 19 hours per week or 38 hours per fortnight.

The person concerned was awarded Family Income Supplement (FIS) for a period of 12 months from 29th June 2006 and payment continued to 27th June 2007. The person made a repeat claim on 28th May 2007. There was a build-up of work in the Family Income Supplement section at that time and, consequently, there was a delay in dealing with all FIS claims. When this case was examined on 24th August 2007, it was found that this person was not engaged in full-time (19 hours per week or 38 per fortnight) remunerative employment as an employee. Accordingly, the claim was disallowed and the person concerned was advised of this decision and of the right of appeal to the independent social welfare appeals office. Under Social Welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims must be made by Deciding Officers and Appeals Officers. These Officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason for the delay in processing family income subsidy applications; the changes he has made or is proposing to make in regard to having the delays addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22194/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is designed to provide cash support for employees on low earnings with families. Family Income Supplement is paid for 52 weeks provided a person continues to meet the qualifying conditions, and a claim for renewal may then be made.

Entitlement to FIS is based on an applicant satisfying a means test and on certification of employment by the employer. My Department has consistently publicised the scheme in order to maximise uptake by qualified families. Following significant improvements in the qualifying income limits in the 2006 budget, a week-long nationwide awareness campaign was undertaken in March of that year to encourage increased take up of the scheme. This, combined with the improvements in the income limits, resulted in a strong upward trend in the level of new claims and, consequently claims for renewals.

There are currently 20,177 people in receipt of a weekly FIS payment. To date in 2007, my Department has received 28,740 new and renewal FIS claims and has decided a total of 22,133 cases. At end September there were 11,229 claims awaiting decision. These were comprised of 4,622 new claims and 6,607 renewal claims. The average time taken to award a FIS claim or renewal in 2007 (up to end of Sept) is 14.98 weeks.

My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply. Measures were introduced to directly address the efficiency of claim processing for FIS:

A review of existing processes and procedures has been undertaken with the explicit objective of reducing delays in claim processing;

Priority is being given to claims where a claim is being renewed to ensure continuity of payment;

The ongoing staffing requirement was recently reviewed in light of the increased volumes of claims. In view of the efficiencies that the processing improvements are expected to generate, an increase in the staffing level is not warranted at this time.

These measures will, over time, lead to more efficient processing and reduce the number of claims on hand. The position is being closely monitored and kept under review by my Department.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if, due to the backlog in processing family income supplement applications, successful candidates will be permitted to make an application for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance payments under the supplementary welfare scheme in view of the fact that the delay of processing is depriving them of such an application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22195/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme (BSCFA) scheme provides a one-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when their children start school each autumn. The allowance is intended as a contribution towards meeting the full cost of school clothing and footwear. The scheme operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year and is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive.

A person may qualify for payment of back to school clothing and footwear allowance if they are in receipt of a social welfare or Health Service Executive payment, are participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education and training course and have household income at or below certain set levels. Family income supplement (FIS) is a qualifying payment for back to school clothing and footwear purposes. People in receipt of FIS qualify subject to the standard means test and any income received by an applicant in the form of family income supplement is not assessable.

In cases where FIS claims are pending, the Health Service Executive have been asked to use their discretion to make a BSCFA payment when they consider that the payment of a FIS claim is likely. Anyone who did not apply for BSCFA because they were awaiting a decision on a FIS application should contact their local Community Welfare Officer.

The Community Welfare Service of the Health Service Executive may make exceptional needs payments to help meet an essential once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. Depending on the circumstances of the particular case, Community Welfare Officers have the discretion to make exceptional needs payments in the event of late applications for BSCFA. The 2007 BSCFA rates are €180 per child for children aged 2 to 11 years and €285 per child for children aged 12 to 22 years. Some 174,000 children will benefit from the scheme in 2007 at an annual cost of over €38m.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will increase the back to school clothing and footwear allowance in Budget 2008; the estimated cost of increasing the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for children between ages two to 11 from €180 to €250 and for young people aged between 12 and 17 from €285 to €350; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22212/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme (BSCFA) operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year and is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive.

The BSCFA scheme provides a one-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when their children start school each autumn. The allowance is intended as a contribution towards meeting the full cost of school clothing and footwear.

Budget 2007 provided for an increase of €60 per child to €180 for children aged 2 to 11 years and €95 per child to €285 for children aged 12 to 22 years.

In 2007, it is estimated that over 170,000 children will benefit from the back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme at an annual cost in excess of €38 million. The additional cost of raising BSCFA to a rate of €250 for primary school children and €350 for children over 12 years of age as suggested by the Deputy would be approximately €12 million. This would bring total expenditure on the scheme to more than €50m.

I consider the back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme to be an important support for parents at a time of particular financial strain. I am satisfied that the improvements to the scheme for this year provide a major boost to meeting the financial costs associated with return to school for those who most need assistance.

Any further improvements to the scheme would have to be considered in the light of resources available in Budget 2008 for improvements in social welfare payments generally.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the major hardship from the establishment of maximum rent levels in respect of which rent allowance may be paid on a county to county basis in view of the huge disparity in rent levels in some counties and in particular in County Cork where rent levels in some coastal towns and villages such as Kinsale, can be much higher than the norm in other areas; and if he will review the scheme with a view to taking into account such realities and to avoid hardship for those families with housing needs in those areas. [22213/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

Rent supplements are subject to a limit depending on household size and on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur. The objective is to ensure that rent supplement is not paid in respect of overly expensive accommodation.

Setting maximum rent limits higher than are justified by the open market would have a distorting effect on the rental market, leading to a more general rise in rent levels. This in turn would worsen the affordability of rental accommodation unnecessarily, with particular negative impact for those tenants on lower incomes.

Notwithstanding these limits, under existing arrangements the Health Service Executive may, in certain circumstances, exceed the rent levels as an exceptional measure, for example:

where there are special housing needs related to exceptional circumstances, for example, disabled persons in specially-adapted accommodation or homeless persons,

where the tenant will be in a position to re-assume responsibility for his/her rent within a short period

where the person concerned is entitled to an income disregard AND has sufficient income to meet his or her basic needs after paying rent, taking into account the appropriate rate of rent supplement that is otherwise payable in the case.

This discretionary power ensures that individuals with particular needs can be accommodated within the scheme and specifically protects against homelessness.

In January 2007 a review of the maximum levels of rent which a person may incur and still be eligible to receive a rent supplement was completed. The purpose of the review was to inform the process of setting new limits, applicable from January 2007 until 30th June 2008. Arising from the review rent limits were adjusted upwards for a number of household types in 14 counties, including Cork.

I am satisfied that the new limits reflect realistic market conditions throughout the country and that they will continue to enable the different categories of eligible tenant households to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation to meet their respective needs. The limits will be reviewed next year. Any revision found to be necessary will be implemented from 1st July 2008.