Written answers

Tuesday, 17 June 2008

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Social Welfare Benefits

11:00 pm

Photo of Tom SheahanTom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 571: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a person (details supplied) in County Kerry is entitled to the respite care grant for 2006 or at least a percentage of same. [23148/08]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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To qualify for payment of the Respite Care Grant, a person must satisfy all the qualifying conditions on the date the Grant is due for payment, that is, the first Thursday in June of the year for which the Grant is being claimed. One of these conditions is that the applicant is not employed outside the home for more than 15 hours a week. The person to whom the Deputy refers was employed for 20 hours a week until 27th August 2007 and her claim for a 2007 Grant was refused on this basis. A questionnaire, to ascertain the person's entitlement to the 2008 grant was recently issued and a decision will be sent to her as soon as this completed form is received in the Department.

In relation to her possible entitlement to the 2006 Grant, the latest date for receipt of applications for the Grant is set out in legislation as being the 31st of December of the year following the year for which the Grant is being claimed. Accordingly, the latest date for receipt of claims for the 2006 Grant is the 31st December 2007. The person concerned cannot qualify for the 2006 Grant as her application was not received in the Department until 15th April 2008. There is no provision in the Respite Care Grant legislation to allow for the payment of a partial or pro-rata Grant.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 572: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if disability payments will be pitched to more accurately reflect the true cost of disability estimated at an average of 30% of a person's income here, ranging between 15% up to 48% for some people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23176/08]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department currently operates a range of schemes for people with an illness or disability including the insurance based illness benefit and invalidity pension, the means-tested disability allowance and blind person's pension, and occupational injury benefit for those who are unable to work because of an accident suffered at work.

In line with other payments provided by my Department to people of working age, the aim of the illness and disability payment schemes is to provide income support to those who cannot secure an adequate income from employment. In the case of insurance based benefits, security is provided against the loss of personal income in the event of illness while, in the case of the means tested payments, assistance is provided to those whose employment capacity is substantially restricted and whose means are insufficient to meet their own needs and those of their dependents.

The rates of payment for all of the above schemes have increased significantly in re cent years in line with the increases for other social welfare payments. For example, the personal rate for disability allowance rose by 33 per cent, from €148.80 to €197.80 in the three year period between 2005 and 2008. These increases have not been linked to any particular index or benchmark but instead have been largely determined by reference to commitments entered into by the Government such as the Programme for Government, the social partnership agreements and in the NAPinclusion process. The net effect of these commitments has been to deliver level of increases well ahead of both price and earnings inflation over the period in question.

The issue of the additional costs of living faced by those people with a disability has been acknowledged on many occasions, not least by the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities and by my own Department in the Report of the Working Group on the Review of the Illness and Disability Payment Schemes. Both reports noted that any provision for addressing the additional costs of disability should be separated from the existing system of income maintenance payments and instead constitute a separate 'cost of disability' payment.

In order to examine the feasibility of the introduction of such a payment, a working group was established under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), with cross-departmental membership which included my Department and was chaired by the Department of Health and Children. The group concluded that comprehensive data on which to base consideration of the introduction of a cost of disability payment is vital, together with a structured process of the assessment of need. The group recommended that steps be taken to improve the quality of data relating to disability in Ireland and it is expected that this will be addressed in the context of the forthcoming National Disability Survey, the results of which are due to be released shortly by the CSO. The group also recommended that other issues around the cost of disability should be considered following the development of a needs assessment system provided for under Part 2 of the Disability Act, 2005, which is currently being progressed by the Department of Health and Children and the Health Services Executive.

The group also examined the scope for addressing barriers that exist for people with disabilities who wish to undertake or increase their employment and thus move to a position of greater economic independence. In this regard my Department recently introduced a change to the withdrawal rate of disability allowance and blind pension for income in excess of the current earnings disregard level which means that a single person can earn up to a maximum of €432 per week from rehabilitative employment before their disability allowance or blind pension is fully withdrawn. This change has resulted in a 40 per cent increase in the number of people since June 2006 availing of employment in order to increase their overall income while receiving disability allowance.

In terms of ensuring adequate levels of income for people with disabilities, the current ten-year Social Partnership Agreement, Towards 2016, includes the commitment to work for the continued enhancement and integration of supports in line with overall social welfare targets. These will include a rationalisation of existing allowances for people with disabilities in the context of the Government's policy of mainstreaming and the proposed transfer of functions from the Health Services Executive to my Department which includes a number of disability-related schemes, including domiciliary care allowance, mobility allowance and blind welfare allowance. The legislative basis for the transfer of domiciliary care allowance and blind welfare allowance was included in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2008. The transfer of Mobility Allowance customers will be progressed after the initial transfer has taken place.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 573: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a proposal from an organisation (details supplied) will be supported. [23436/08]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive (HSE) as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.

Rent supplement is subject to a limit on the amount of rent that an applicant may incur. Rent limits are set at levels that enable the different eligible household types to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation, having regard to the different rental market conditions that prevail in various parts of the State. The objective is to ensure that rent supplement is not paid in respect of overly expensive accommodation having regard to the size of the household.

Notwithstanding these limits, under existing arrangements the HSE may, in certain circumstances, exceed the rent limits. This discretionary power ensures that individuals with particular needs can be accommodated within the scheme and specifically protects against homelessness.

Rent supplement is calculated to ensure that a person, after payment of rent, has an income equal to the basic SWA rate, less a specified minimum contribution, currently €13, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. This minimum contribution which gives clarity to the applicant, as to their contribution to their rent, has not been increased since January 2004, despite significant increases in basic social welfare payments.

The tenant makes the application for rent supplement and the Department's relationship is with the tenant in all cases. Payment is made to the tenant, it is the property of the tenant and is specifically for the benefit of the tenant to assist them with their accommodation needs.

Where a landlord charges a rent in excess of that declared by him/her on the rent supplement application form, the matter should be reported to the relevant community welfare officer who will deal with the individual case. There are existing legislative provisions in place relating to the making of false statements for the purpose of obtaining payments from the Department.

Section 251(1) of Chapter 4 of Part 9 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 states that where a person for the purpose of obtaining or establishing entitlement to payment of any benefit for himself or herself or for any other person, is guilty of an offence where the person

(i) knowingly makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his or her knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, or knowingly conceals any material fact, or

(ii) produces or furnishes, or causes or knowingly allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information which he or she knows to be false in material particular,

Section 257 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act states that a person who is found guilty of an offence under the Act is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both, or

(b) on conviction of an indictment, to a fine not exceeding €13,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or to both.

The Department is studying the proposal submitted by the organisation in question in the light of the existing relevant legislative provisions in place and will be responding to them in the near future.

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