Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1328: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the annual cost of child benefit. [30654/08]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1329: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if calculations have been undertaken to establish the annual pay out of child benefit if it were only granted to children in households earning less than €100,000 per annum. [30656/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1328 and 1329 together.

Child benefit is estimated to cost almost €2.5 billion in 2008. The Department has not undertaken any costings of the implications of introducing an earnings threshold for child benefit purposes.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1330: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the estimated annual cost of increasing the jobseeker's benefit by €20 per week and €30 per week respectively. [30657/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The estimated annual cost of increasing jobseeker's benefit by €20 per week is €130.8 million in a full year and the cost of increasing jobseeker's benefit by €30 per week is €196.2 million in a full year.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1331: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of years back PRSI is taken into account before a person can qualify for unemployment benefit. [30658/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Jobseeker's benefit is an insurance based scheme. There are two main contribution conditions that have to be satisfied in order to qualify for payment. A person must have at least 52 reckonable contributions paid between the date of entry into insurable employment and the date the claim is made. Only contributions payable at Classes A, H and P (or the equivalent rates before April 1979) are reckonable for this purpose.

In addition to having the 52 reckonable contributions paid, a person must also have at least 39 reckonable contributions paid or credited in the Governing Contribution Year, or have at least 26 reckonable contributions paid in both the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) and the year immediately preceding the GCY. The Governing Contribution Year (GCY) is the second last complete contribution year before the benefit year in which the claim is made. The current Governing Contribution Year is 2006 for jobseekers benefit claims made in 2008.

Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1332: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will review the case of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath who has been refused mortgage help. [30680/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes mortgage interest supplement, is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. A mortgage interest supplement provides short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence.

The Health Service Executive has advised that the position remains unchanged from that advised in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 567 on 17th June 2008. One of the conditions for receipt of mortgage interest supplement is that the claimant must have been in a position to meet the mortgage repayments when the loan agreement was entered into. The Executive has advised that the person concerned was refused mortgage interest supplement as his current financial circumstances are the same as when the loan agreement was entered into.

The Executive has further advised that the person concerned appealed the decision to the HSE Appeals Office and the refusal was upheld. It is open to him to lodge an appeal against the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1333: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will review the case of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath who has been told it is an aspiration of her Department that lone parents will not be penalised by taking up training leading to a job opportunity; but in this case, the rent subsidy of their house has been severely cut. [30682/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE), as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. Rent supplement is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to their family circumstances less a minimum contribution, currently €13, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €13 because recipients are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appropriate basic SWA rate towards their accommodation costs.

The first €75 of additional income, that is, income above the standard rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to a person's circumstances, is disregarded for rent supplement purposes, with any additional income above €75 assessed at 75%. This measure ensures that people have a financial incentive to take up education or training opportunities. The person concerned is in receipt of one-parent family payment (OFP) and a FÁS training allowance. Prior to participation in FÁS training course she contributed €13 towards her rent. Her income has increased by €177.80 and €100.70 of that income was disregarded when reviewing her entitlement to rent supplement. Consequently she now contributes an additional €77.10 towards her rent but she is still €100.70 better off, per week, as a result of participating in the FÁS training course. If she is not satisfied with the decision of the Executive, it is open to her to lodge an appeal against the decision.