Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 404: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will review the means assessment system, which places a notional income on commercial property, in view of the 7 April 2009 budget; her views on reviewing same in view of a person not being able to rent a commercial property due to the economic climate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17442/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In assessing means for social assistance purposes, account is taken of any cash income the person may have, together with the value of capital and property excluding the family home, land farmed by the person or commercial premises used in the course of the business of the claimant. The yearly value of property and capital is assessed on a notional basis. In the case of property, the market value is established and any outstanding mortgages on that property are deducted before assessment. The first €20,000 of combined capital and property is then disregarded (€50,000 in the case of disability allowance and €5,000 in the case of supplementary welfare allowance), and the balance is assessed by reference to a formula.

These arrangements are intended to assess the value of the property itself and apply regardless of whether the property is let or not. Where a claimant is of the view that the value of any given property has decreased due to market conditions, he or she may request a review of their claim. Any changes to the current arrangements would have to be considered in a Budgetary context and in the light of available resources.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 405: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if there is redress for an employe who discovers when made redundant that their employer had not been paying contributions over a period of many years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17458/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's Inspectorate, appointed under Section 250 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 is responsible, inter alia, for ensuring that employers and self employed people comply with the Act in relation to Pay Related Social Insurance contributions. Employer compliance, in this regard, is monitored through inspections which include detailed examinations of employers' records to ensure that correct PRSI payments are being made in respect of all employees.

Where an employee notifies the Department that his/her employer has not been remitting PRSI on their behalf or where an irregularity in a customer's PRSI record is detected at claim processing stage, the case is referred to a Social Welfare Inspector for investigation. Where PRSI undercharges are confirmed, the Inspector sets out PRSI arrears/underpayment in respect of each employee for each tax year and issues a demand to the employer for payment. Should the employer fail to respond satisfactorily, a statutory demand will issue by registered post and the employer given 14 days to respond. If the employer fails to respond the case is considered for prosecution.

Following confirmation of the employment, either by way of wage inspection or employee statement, the Department's Client Eligibility Services Section is advised to update the employee's PRSI record for the period of employment in question. Where a benefit claim is pending the relevant scheme area is similarly advised. This is to ensure that there is no loss of benefit to an employee caused by their employer's failure to make timely and proper returns on their behalf.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 406: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will respond to issues raised in correspondence from a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17474/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The recent Supplementary Budget provided that payments currently being made to existing rent supplement tenants be reduced by 8% with effect from 1 June 2009 in the expectation that landlords will reduce their rents, given the reductions in rent levels in the private rental market as a whole. While tenants may be contractually obliged to pay the rent agreed to in their lease, it is expected that landlords will decrease the rent in recognition of the fact that rents have fallen generally and that there are now a large number of vacant rental properties nationally.

Data published by the CSO show that rents fell by almost 7% between November 2008 and February 2009. A leading property website reports that rents have fallen by around 12% in the last year. A similar trend is apparent in tenancies registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board. There are currently almost 85,000 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 42% since the end of December 2007. It is essential that state support for tenants does not give rise to inflated rental prices and overcharging by landlords.

Other changes in the Supplementary Budget provide for new maximum rent limits to be prescribed in regulations to take effect from 1 June 2009 to reflect the general reductions in private sector rent levels as well as an increase of €6 in the minimum contribution towards rent and mortgage interest supplement to €24 a week. Existing recipients of rent supplement will be advised by letter in advance of the change being made to their rent payment and this communication can be shown to landlords as evidence of the revised rent supplement in payment in individual cases. Landlords will be advised through advertising in the print media of the general reduction in rent supplement payments. Community Welfare Officers have discretion to provide assistance where exceptional circumstances exist in any individual case e.g. where homelessness might result due to the inability of a person to meet their rent payment.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 407: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will review the rule whereby people being made redundant have to wait nine weeks before jobseeker's benefit is payable in view of the hardship it may cause at a time when employment opportunities are scarce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17481/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In order to target available resources more effectively, the Social Welfare Act, 1992 introduced a provision whereby a person who received a redundancy payment over €15,240 (£12,000) would be disqualified from receipt of Jobseekers Benefit for up to a maximum of nine weeks, depending on the level of the award. The base disqualification threshold was increased to €19,046.07 (£15,000) from May 1994 and to €50,000 from January 2007. Claimants over 55 years of age are exempt from this 'no fault' disqualification. The period of disqualification applies on a graduated basis by reference to the amount of the redundancy payment, as set out in the tabular statement below. As the table demonstrates, a person must receive a sum in excess of €90,000 in order to attract the maximum nine week disqualification prior to payment. While all such provisions and thresholds are kept under review, any proposal to amend the provisions regarding entitlement following receipt of a redundancy payment could only be considered in a budgetary context and in the light of competing priorities. Tabular Statement Amount of Redundancy Period of Disqualification € weeks 50,000.00 - 55,000 1 55,000.01 - 60,000 2 60,000.01 - 65,000 3 65,000.01 - 70,000 4 70,000.01 - 75,000 5 75,000.01 - 80,000 6 80,000.01 - 85,000 7 85,000.01 - 90,000 8 90,000.01 and over 9