Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 392: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when the proposed increases in maternity benefit will come into effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30859/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Maternity Benefit is an income maintenance payment awarded by this Department to eligible women for a 26-week period on foot of a confinement. Entitlement to this benefit for employees is contingent on entitlement to statutory Maternity Leave.

The right to Maternity Leave is established under the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 — legislation which is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Any changes to current Maternity Leave provisions are a matter for him to consider in the first instance — and entitlement to Maternity Benefit would normally follow suit.

Under the provisions of social welfare legislation, the 26-week period of core statutory Maternity Leave attracts a payment from my Department — subject to certain social insurance contribution conditions being fulfilled. Maternity Leave legislation also provides an option for a woman to take an additional 16-week period of Maternity Leave that does not attract a benefit payment.

With regards to the potential expansion of maternity leave and benefit arrangements, the scheme has experienced significant improvements, notably in the last few years, in terms of both the duration of the payment and the level at which it is paid. Budget 2006 provided for Maternity Leave — and thus Maternity Benefit payments — to be extended from 18 to 22 weeks. A further 4-week extension was implemented in the aftermath of Budget 2007 — bringing the total period of paid Maternity Leave and Maternity Benefit to the current level of 26 weeks.

In terms of the level of payment, in 2000, the rate payable was the equivalent of €219.41 per week over 14 weeks — or €3,071 for the duration. Maternity Benefit is now paid at a weekly rate of €280 over 26 weeks — or €7,280 for the duration.

Under the Maternity Leave (Amendment) Act, 2004, further changes have been made to the Maternity Benefit scheme. The period of leave that must be taken before the end of the week during which the baby is due has been reduced from 4 to 2 weeks. Also, the final 4 weeks of Maternity Benefit can now be postponed in the event of a child being hospitalised.

It should be noted that the recently agreed Programme for Government contains the following commitment in relation to 'Giving Parents More Time with Their Children':

"Over the next five years we will:

Increase paid maternity leave by five weeks and make all leave after the first 26 weeks available to either parent".

Progression of this commitment is a matter for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the first instance.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 393: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on increasing the income threshold for persons in receipt of disability allowance to enable them to work more than the recommended guideline of 20 hours per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30863/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The income disregard for Disability Allowance does not contain any recommended guidelines on the number of hours of employment that can be availed of but instead operates so as to encourage the maximising of overall income that can be earned from the combination of disability allowance and employment.

As of June 1, 2006, the income disregard operates on the basis of a tapered withdrawal rate between €120 and €350. This means that all income up to €120 is disregarded as means when assessing entitlement, while income between €120 and €350 is assessed on the basis of 50 cents for every euro earned. The effect of this tapered withdrawal rate is that a single person can earn up to €420 per week before their Disability Allowance fully ceases.

Prior to the introduction of the tapered withdrawal, a flat income limit of €120 was in place meaning that once a person exceeded earnings of €120 per week, payment of their Disability Allowance was withdrawn on a euro for euro basis. However, this approach ensured there was no incentive to increase earnings above €120 and, therefore, was in conflict with one of the underlying policy principles relating to incentives to work, i.e. that there must be a reward for working. A review published by the Department of Social and Family Affairs in 2004 of the Illness and Disability Payment Schemes suggested that continually increasing the income disregard level is not the most appropriate answer to the disincentive problem

Instead, that Review favoured introducing a mechanism which would allow for the gradual reduction of social welfare benefits as earnings increase, thereby allowing people who increase their earnings or employment potential to see an increase in the overall income level. This approach benefits those in employment, irrespective of the hours worked or hourly rate earned. It was in this context that the tapered withdrawal rate was introduced in 2006 and has, thus far, resulted in a 30 per cent increase in the number of people availing of the disregard for earnings from rehabilitative employment.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 394: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of deposits provided by community welfare officers to rent supplement claimants in each of the past three years; the value of deposits in each year; the way in which community welfare officers make payments to claimants; and the procedures in place to recover deposits when the tenancy ends and to prevent double payments when the claimant moves to another tenancy. [30913/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Statistics requested by the Deputy on rent deposits over the last 3 years are set out in the table attached.

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential once-off cost, such as a payment of a rent deposit, which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment and each application is determined by the Executive based on the particular circumstances of the case and at the discretion of the Community Welfare Officer (CWO). Such payments are confined to occurrences which the Executive considers to be unexpected, unforeseen or exceptional.

Rent deposits are usually paid to the tenant by cheque. If the landlord or tenant terminates the tenancy the tenant can use the returned deposit to secure a new tenancy. If a tenant has a legitimate grievance in relation to the refund of a rent deposit which they have paid to their landlord, they may apply to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) to have their dispute resolved through the board's dispute resolution process.

In certain circumstances and with the permission of the tenant, payment can be made directly to the landlord. In such circumstances the CWO may make arrangements with the landlord to return the rent deposit to the Executive.

Every effort is made to ensure that payments of rent deposits are only made once by checking my department's computer systems to see if any previous deposit had been paid. In general multiple rent deposits are not paid to the same person. However, CWOs have discretion in this regard, in particular in instances of potential homelessness.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 395: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if there are plans within his Department to re-examine the allowance for the household package for old age pensioners; his views on splitting that allowance up for 75% towards gas costs and 25% towards electricity costs as supported by a large number of old age pensioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30998/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The household benefits package, which comprises the electricity/gas allowance, telephone allowance and free television licence schemes, is generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. The package is also available to carers and people with disabilities under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. Widows and widowers aged from 60 to 65 whose late spouses had been in receipt of the household benefit package or free travel retain that entitlement. This measure is in place to ensure that households who have this entitlement do not lose it on the death of a spouse. People aged over 70 years of age can qualify for the household benefits package regardless of their income or household composition. Those aged under 70 must live alone or only with certain excepted people in order to qualify.

In order to provide further assistance to recipients of the household benefits package the number of units of electricity covered by the scheme was increased from 1,800 to 2,400 with effect from January 2007. An equivalent increase in the natural gas allowance had already come into effect in October 2006. These allowances continue to also cover standing charges and the associated VAT.

In addition to the electricity and gas allowance, my Department also operates the national fuel scheme the aim of which is to assist householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive payments with meeting the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowances are paid for 29 weeks from end-September to mid-April and can be used to pay for any form of heating fuel. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating expenses.

A number of improvements have been made to the scheme in recent years including the easing of the means test and extending the duration of payment from 26 weeks to 29 weeks. Budget 2006, provided for an increase in the rate of fuel allowance of €5, from €9 per week to €14 per week and to €17.90 in designated smokeless areas. Budget 2007 provided for a further increase of €4 per week to €18. This means that the level of the fuel allowance will have doubled in the last two years. The income threshold for eligibility for fuel allowance was also increased from €51 to €100 per week over and above the contributory pension to enable more people to qualify for the payment.

The electricity allowance element of the household benefits package is paid as a credit on a customer's electricity bill. The natural gas allowance is an alternative to the electricity allowance for people whose homes are connected to a natural gas supply. People can choose to have the allowance applied to either their electricity or their gas bill, which ever is most beneficial to them. Splitting the allowance as proposed would have significant administrative implications both within the Department and within the utility companies participating in the scheme.

However, a range of proposals, including splitting the gas/electricity allowance, has been made in relation to the household benefits package. These proposals and the associated costs will be kept under review in the context of the objectives of the scheme and budgetary resources.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 396: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will review the free travel pass scheme and extend it to people who are not getting a social welfare pension but are retired with a private pension source and qualify under medical grounds; the cost factor of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31004/07]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 397: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of retired persons who have private pensions and who would medically qualify for a travel pass but are being denied same as they do not have any social welfare income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31005/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 396 and 397 together.

The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, also receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such as disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind person's pension.

People resident in the State who are in receipt of a social security invalidity or disability payment from a country covered by EU Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, and who have been in receipt of this payment for at least 12 months, are also eligible for free travel.

The proposal to extend the scheme to people aged under 66 years who may not be in receipt of a qualifying payment is one of a number of proposals that have been made to extend the free travel scheme.

A study published by the National Council on Ageing and Older People in 2001 suggests that approximately 31% of people who retire early do so due to illness or disability. It is not known how many of this group would not be in receipt of an illness or disability type payment from my Department. As such, it is not possible to estimate the cost of the proposal.

In any event, further extensions to the free travel scheme can only be considered in a Budgetary context and taking account of the financial and other needs of those not covered by the existing arrangements.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 398: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of jobseeker allowance claimants and jobseeker benefit claimants that stopped claiming benefit in each of the months to date in 2007 in tabular readable form. [31016/07]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 399: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of jobseeker allowance claimants and jobseeker benefit claimants that stopped claiming benefit in each county to date in 2007 in tabular readable form. [31017/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 398 and 399 together.

Tables setting out the number of Jobseekers Allowance and Jobseekers Benefit customers that ceased claiming a jobseeker's payment at each local office during 2007 are set out below. These tables have been compiled in respect of each local office the boundaries of which do not necessarily conform to county boundaries.