Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 123: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the details of the incentives to address the issue of families living below the poverty line and the growing pattern of working poverty associated with the major growth in employment in recent years as highlighted by the Combat Poverty Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32278/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Information on poverty levels, deprivation and social exclusion are provided in the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU–SILC), which is conducted on an annual basis by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and which commenced in Ireland in 2003. The most recent results are for the year 2006, which were published on November 27 2007.

In 2006 the percentage of households 'at risk of poverty' and whose principal economic status was 'at work' was 6.5%. This rate was significantly lower than that for the total population, which was 17.0% in 2006. However, households whose income falls below the 60% median income threshold are classified as being "at risk of poverty", but are not necessarily in poverty. An indicator has been developed by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), called "consistent poverty", which identifies the proportion of people 'at risk of poverty', who are also classified as being in consistent poverty due to being deprived of certain goods or services considered essential for a basic standard of living. This measure was recently updated and revised by the ESRI. It is now used in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (NAPinclusion) 2007-2016.

In 2006 the percentage of persons whose principal economic status was 'at work' and who were in "consistent poverty" was 1.6%. This compares with a rate of 6.9% for the total population.

The issue of families where the head of the household is in low income employment has been raised in several fora, in particular with reference to the issue of childcare as experienced by one parent families. While this specific issue is being addressed by my colleague the Minister for Children, my department administers a number of schemes designed to help working families on low incomes including transitional payments for people moving from welfare to work.

Family income supplement is the principal in-work income support for people in low-income employment with children. It is designed to provide the incentive to remain in, or take up, employment rather than be fully welfare dependent. Recent improvements to family income supplement include the change of assessment from a gross income basis to net income, the increase to €20 per week in the minimum payment and, in budget 2007, the continued re-focusing of income thresholds to include additional gains for larger families.

People working three days a week or less may instead apply for a jobseeker's payment, provided they continue to seek full-time work. Entitlement can be either insurance based (jobseeker's benefit) or means-based (jobseeker's allowance).

The part-time job incentive scheme is available to those who were previously on a jobseeker's payment for 15 months or more and are now working under 24 hours per week while seeking full-time employment. This payment is not means-tested.

Farm assist is a weekly means-tested payment for low income farmers, including those who may have off-farm employment or self-employment.

Recipients of various social welfare schemes may also qualify for a transitional payment under the back to work programme, which provides for a phased level of income support over a number of years when taking up employment or self-employment. This payment is not means-tested, with more relaxed qualification criteria for people aged 50 or older.

Full details of my department's schemes are available from any social welfare local office or my department's website, www.welfare.ie.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the provisions or proposals in place to address the high instances of poverty amongst older women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32290/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government features a number of commitments in relation to social welfare pensions, including a commitment to increase the basic State pension to €300 per week by 2012.

Over the last number of Budgets, pension increases have been well ahead of inflation ensuring that not only is the real value of pensions maintained but that they are significantly improved in real terms.

The Department monitors regular statistical releases such as the EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) to track the effectiveness of income policies. The 2006 EU-SILC report, published last week, showed that the position for older people improved significantly from 2005 to 2006, with the 'at risk of poverty' rate falling from 20.1% to 13.6%. Furthermore the number of people aged 65 and over at risk of poverty was significantly lower than for the general population which stood at 17%. There was no significant difference between the rates for men and women, with 13.6% of men aged 65 and over at risk of poverty and 13.7% of women aged 65 and over at risk of poverty.

For many years now, the Government has been anxious to ensure that as many people as possible should qualify for pensions in their own right. In this regard, qualifying conditions for contributory pensions have been eased and special pensions such as the pre-53 payment have been introduced. In the last two Budgets a particular emphasis has been placed on non-contributory pensions with significant improvements in the means test and a higher rate of increase being granted than that given on the contributory side. These improvements are of particular benefit to older women who make up the majority of recipients of non-contributory pensions.

In the case of contributory pensions and most other contributory and non-contributory social welfare payments, a qualified adult increase is payable in respect of a spouse or partner who is wholly or mainly maintained by the claimant. Since 2002, pensioner couples can opt for a payment to be made to a spouse or partner by requesting that the qualified adult portion of the pension be paid directly. This has provided a direct payment for many spouses without their own pension entitlement. Since 24th September, paying the pension and qualified adult increase separately is the default option for new pension claims unless the spouse/partner indicates that they do not wish to receive a direct payment.

The Government has committed itself to complete the process begun in Budget 2007 to bring payments to qualified adults up to the level of the State pension (non-contributory) over a period of three years. The Programme for Government also includes a commitment to extend payment of the over 80 allowance to qualified adults, which will benefit some 4,500 people who are receiving support as qualified adults on the pension of their spouse or partner.

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. The Green Paper sets out a range of suggestions in relation to social welfare pension reform. This includes discussing the use of universal entitlements, back-dating the homemaker's scheme, examining the means test for qualified adults on contributory pensions and changing the basis of assessment from average to total contributions for contributory pension entitlement. 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.