Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 75: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people in receipt of qualified adult allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32261/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The number of people in receipt of qualified adult allowance at the end of September 2007 was almost 120,300.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on whether the living alone allowance is sufficient to cover additional living alone costs especially in rural areas where individuals must either have their own car or pay for expensive taxis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32299/07]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 141: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he has plans to increase the living alone allowance for the elderly, an allowance which has not been increased from €7.70 since its introduction in 1996. [32304/07]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he proposes to raise the rate of the living alone allowance; if it is Government policy to retain the payment at the current level indefinitely; his policy in relation to the future development of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32200/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 76, 141 and 147 together.

The living alone increase is an additional payment of €7.70 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. It is also available to people who are under 66 years of age who are living alone and receiving payments under one of a number of invalidity type schemes.

The increase is intended as a contribution towards the additional costs people face when they live alone. It is not intended to cover transport costs which are addressed under the free travel scheme which provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme.

The issue of access to public transport in rural areas is being addressed at present through the Rural Transport Initiative, which is being managed by Pobal, formerly Area Development Management (ADM) on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Transport. My Department contributed €500,000 to the initiative in 2004, €750,000 in 2005, €850,000 in 2006, and will contribute €1.5 million in 2007 to ensure that free travel passholders continue to have access to community based transport services.

The policy in relation to support for pensioners has been, for many years, to give priority to increasing the personal rates of pension rather than supplements like the living alone increase. The objective is to use resources to improve the position of all pensioners to the fullest extent possible rather than focusing on particular groups. This approach was continued in Budget 2007 with increases of up to €16 and €18 per week granted on personal rates.

The needs of older people have been, and will remain, a priority for the Government. Further reforms and improvements will be considered in the context of the Green Paper on Pensions, published on the 17th October. A major consultation process in relation to future pensions policy is now underway. Following the completion of the consultation process, the Government will develop a framework for future pensions policy.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on removing restrictions imposed on disability benefit recipients who have re-trained and may be able to take up alternative employment; if there are proposals in place to change this restriction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32271/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Illness Benefit (formerly know as Disability Benefit) is an income support payment for people of working age who are unable to work due to illness and who satisfy certain social insurance conditions. Because inability to work due to illness is a condition of receipt of the payment, it is also a requirement of the scheme that the recipient does not engage in employment while in receipt of Illness Benefit.

However, where it is the case that the recipient wishes to pursue a different category of employment than that which was pursued prior to the onset of illness, the Department does not impose restrictions on the recipient and instead allows for an exemption from the general rule that the person must not be in employment. These exemptions, which typically last for 12 months, will normally take the form of employment which is deemed by the Department to be both part-time and rehabilitative in nature, or alternatively a community employment scheme or a training course arranged by FÁS. An application for such an exemption must be made to the Department in advance of the employment or training course beginning.

This exemption from the general rules of behaviour was introduced in order to allow recipients to engage in training or part time, rehabilitative employment which would increase the opportunity for them to return to the open labour market. However, the Department accepts that, in some cases, where a claimant has returned to the labour market they may find that the employment is unsuitable and that they are unable to continue with it. For situations such as these, I recently made a change to the legislation to ensure that, for a period of 26 weeks following their return to employment, if the person finds they are unable to continue in employment they will be allowed return to illness benefit without the need to re-apply or serve additional waiting days. In this way, illness benefit recipients are encouraged rather than restricted in finding alternative employment in the labour market.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason for the delay in publishing reform proposals for carers; when he proposes to introduce legislation in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32178/07]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the status of the National Carers Strategy as promised in Towards 2016; the role of his Department in same; if the discussion with the social partners has been completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29714/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 127 together.

Supporting and recognising carers in our society is, and has been, a priority of the Government since 1997. Over that period, weekly payment rates to carers have been greatly increased, qualifying conditions for carer's allowance have been significantly eased, coverage of the scheme has been extended and new schemes such as carer's benefit and the respite care grant have been introduced and extended.

Recent reforms of the scheme allow people in receipt of certain other social welfare payments, who are also providing full time care and attention to a person, to retain their main welfare payment and receive another payment, depending on their means. The maximum payment will be the equivalent of a half rate carer's allowance.

One of the key Government commitments in the national partnership agreement "Towards 2016" is the development of a national carer's strategy and this commitment is reiterated in the Programme for Government.

I am aware that one of the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs "Report on the Position of Full Time Carers" which was published in 2003 was that such a strategy should be developed. I am pleased that we are now in a position to act on that recommendation.

The strategy will focus on supporting informal and family carers in the community. While social welfare supports for carers will clearly be a key issue in the strategy, other issues such as access to respite and other services, education, training and employment will also feature strongly. Co-operation between relevant Government departments and agencies is essential if the provision of services, supports and entitlements for carers is to be fully addressed. For that reason all relevant departments and agencies will be involved in the strategy and there will be appropriate consultation with the social partners.

My officials have been in discussions with their colleagues in other relevant Departments in order to decide on the best approach to the development of the strategy. In view of the need to ensure that appropriate arrangements and structures are in place to support its development, it will not be possible to complete the strategy by the end of this year as had been intended originally.

An inter-Departmental working group, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach, will be established in the coming weeks to draw up the strategy and to manage the consultation process. I expect it to be completed by summer of 2008. The recent improvements in the income supports available from this Department represent major improvements in supports available to carers in the community. The development of a national carer's strategy provides us with an opportunity to build further on these improvements and to consider other areas where progress can be made.