David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 110 of 25 June 2008, the involvement her Department has had with the Office of the Minister for Children in the study of children engaged in inappropriate care roles as per the commitment in Towards 2016; if this study was commenced in July 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39566/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Towards 2016 includes a commitment to study the extent to which children undertake inappropriate care roles and the impact on their lives. The Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has the lead role in relation to this study, which aims to develop mechanisms to identify young carers aged 5-17 years, the positive and negative impact of caring on their lives, and to make recommendations for ways in which they can be assisted.

Officials from my Department worked closely with the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs with regard to the development of the structure of study and throughout the tendering process. The study commenced in October 2008 and is being undertaken by the Child and Family Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has had discussions with the EU Commission on the issue of travel concessions for Irish pensioners in the UK in the context of a senior euro card focused on free or concessionary travel facilities for the elderly throughout the European Union; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39332/08]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if, in view of the recent decision of the European Committee on Social Rights regarding the exclusion of non-resident Irish pension holders from the free travel scheme for older persons in Ireland, she will review her views on the establishment of a European wide senior euro card; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39333/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 106 together.

The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over and to people receiving certain disability or care payments.

Proposals to extend the free travel scheme to Irish born people living abroad and those receiving pensions from my Department have been examined and, in this regard, officials of the Department have engaged in discussions with EU Commission officials. However, it has not been possible to progress the matter as, under EU legislation, discrimination on grounds of nationality is prohibited.

In addition, the European Commission has indicated that to extend the scheme to people in other Member States who are in receipt of an Irish pension could also be considered discriminatory.

More recently the European Committee on Social Rights found that there was no violation to the European Social Charter following a complaint on the difference in treatment between residents and non-residents in access to the free travel scheme. I have no plans to extend the Free Travel Scheme.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the instructions given by her or her officials to community welfare officers in respect of refusing mortgage interest supplement in the circumstances in which the applicant has overstated their income. [39560/08]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the changes she will make to the qualifying criteria for private mortgage interest supplement. [39513/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 154 together.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Department, provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest. The purpose of the mortgage interest supplement is to provide 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 supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only.

One of the statutory conditions for receipt of mortgage interest supplement is that, in the opinion of the HSE, the person must have been in a position, at the time the loan agreement was entered into, to meet the repayments under that agreement (Article 10(1)(b)(i) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 2007).

Accordingly, in determining entitlement to mortgage interest supplement, a community welfare officer may examine the original loan application, supporting documentation and records of repayments in order to assess the capacity of the person to make a long-term commitment to repayment of the loan in question.

It is a matter for the community welfare officer to a make a decision on entitlement based on all of the facts of the case. There is a right of appeal against the decision of the community welfare officer to a Health Service Executive Appeals Officer and thereafter to the Chief Appeals Officer of the Department.

The supplement is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance, appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources.

The existing mortgage interest supplement assessment provides for a gradual withdrawal of payment as hours of employment or earnings increase. In recent years improvements have been made to the means test to encourage eligible people to engage in employment without losing their entire mortgage interest supplement.

Those availing of part-time employment and/or training opportunities can continue to receive mortgage interest supplement subject to their satisfying the standard means assessment rules. Since June 2007, where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, the first €75 of such additional income together with 25% of any additional income above €75 is disregarded for means assessment purposes. This ensures that those returning to work or participating in training schemes are better off as a result of taking up such an opportunity.

Mortgage interest supplement recipients are required to make a minimum contribution towards the cost of their accommodation costs. When last set in 2004, the contribution represented approximately 10% of the minimum social welfare weekly payment rate. While basic social welfare rates of payment have risen by nearly €70 per week since then, no upward adjustment has been made to the minimum contribution. As part of Budget 2009 measures, I announced my intention to increase the minimum contribution from €13 to €18 with effect from 1 January 2009. This contribution which represents 8.8% of the basic social welfare weekly payment is significantly less than the minimum rent paid by many local authority tenants.

There are currently 6,900 people in receipt of mortgage interest supplement, a 68% increase on the numbers receiving the supplement at the end of December 2007.

The mortgage interest supplement schemes provide an adequate short-term "safety net" within the overall social welfare system to ensure that people do not suffer hardship due to loss of employment. I do not consider that any further changes in eligibility criteria are required at this time. However the scheme will be kept under review to ensure that it meets the objective of catering for those who require assistance on a short-term basis.