Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 461: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason conflicting information has been given in a letter (details supplied). [22232/09]

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. The mortgage interest supplement scheme is designed to help those who have difficulty meeting their mortgage repayment schedule where their means are insufficient to meet their needs. A supplement may be paid in respect of mortgage interest only, to eligible people in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence.

The Executive has advised that the person concerned was in receipt of mortgage interest supplement of €295 per month from 16 June 2008, based on his mortgage interest payment at that time. Following a recent review of his entitlement to mortgage interest supplement, payment was reduced to €152.59 a month due to the reduction in the rate of interest payable since June 2008.

The recent Supplementary Budget provided that the weekly minimum contribution payable towards mortgage interest supplement be increased by €6 from €18 to €24 a week, with effect from 1 June 2009. As the person concerned is paid on a calendar-monthly basis, the €6 increase in the weekly minimum contribution is calculated as follows: [€6 multiplied by 52] divided by 12 = €26 per calendar month. Taking into account the increase in the minimum contribution, the person concerned is currently entitled to mortgage interest supplement of €126.89 per month.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 462: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, further to Parliamentary Question No 335 of 26 May 2009, if she will confirm that she cannot furnish a figure for the average cost of each unemployment claim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22257/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance are among a number of payments administered by the Department to meet the income needs of people of working age. The cost of a jobseeker claim is related to the circumstances of the person making the claim. A jobseeker payment is comprised of a number of variables including the rate of payment which the individual may be entitled to, the rate of payment for adult or child dependents and the duration of the claim. In addition the person may qualify for supplementary payments such as fuel allowance, rent supplement/mortgage interest supplement or Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.

In view of the number of people claiming jobseeker payments and the individual variables involved it is not possible to give an average cost of each unemployment claim. However, the estimated costing, in 2009, for 1,000 jobseekers' claims is some €13 million if the cost of "add ons" such as rent supplement etc. is taken into account. The programme expenditure outturn for jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit 2008 was just under €2.1 billion and provision has been made in the 2009 estimate for expenditure of over €4.612 billion.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 464: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when supplementary allowance will be awarded in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin. [22317/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The Executive has advised that it has no record of an application from the person concerned. If he wishes to make an application for supplementary welfare allowance, the person concerned should contact the community welfare officer at his local health centre.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 465: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the advice she would give to tenants on rent allowance whose landlord will not reduce the rent in accordance with the reductions being imposed and who have an existing tenancy agreement which cannot be broken without losing their deposit; if such tenants are expected to pay the balance themselves; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22376/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently over 88,000 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 48% since the end of December 2007. The recent Supplementary Budget provided that the weekly minimum contribution payable towards rent be increased from €18 to €24 a week, with effect from 1 June 2009. It also provided that payments currently being made to existing rent supplement tenants be reduced by 8% from the same date. New maximum rent limits have also been introduced from 1 June 2009 to reflect the general reductions in private sector rent levels.

Data published by the CSO show that rents fell by almost 7% between November 2008 and February 2009. A leading property website recently reported that rents have fallen by almost 16% in the twelve months to March 2009 with 5% of the fall occurring since the start of 2009. It is essential therefore that state support for tenants who form a substantial section of the rental market, does not give rise to inflated rental prices.

Existing recipients of rent supplement were notified in advance of the change being made to their rent payment from 1 June 2009 and advised that this communication could be shown to landlords as evidence of the revised rent supplement in payment in individual cases. Landlords have also been advised through advertising in the national and provincial newspapers of the general reduction in rent supplement payments and a number of organisations representing landlords and tenants were contacted and advised of the changes to the rent supplement scheme.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, once the tenancy is at least a year old and where the rent has not been reviewed in the previous twelve months, the tenant is entitled to ask a landlord to review the rent in payment where the tenant feels that the rent exceeds the market rate for the property. 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. In this climate, it is expected that people will be able to get accommodation at the appropriate rental level if a landlord is unwilling to reduce the rent in any particular case.

The obligations of landlords and tenants in relation to tenancy terminations, including the refund of deposits, is also provided for in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Under these provisions, tenants are entitled to a refund of a deposit paid at the commencement of the tenancy where there is no rent or utility bills owing, no damage to the dwelling beyond normal wear and tear and the proper notice prescribed in the Act is served. Disputes between landlords and tenants about any aspect of rent or the return of a deposit may be referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

While a person may have a tenancy agreement with a landlord, such agreements or leases cannot take away from the rights and obligations provided for under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Where a tenant is bound by the terms of a fixed term contract, they generally may not terminate a tenancy before the expiry of the term of the contract. The Act does, however, allow the tenant to seek to assign or sublet the tenancy, with the consent of the landlord. In circumstances where the tenancy has not been validly terminated, the landlord has the discretion to retain the deposit to cover any outstanding rent due under the lease, if they suffer financial loss from the early termination. However, landlords would be expected to take steps to mitigate any such losses.

Community Welfare Officers have discretion to provide assistance where exceptional circumstances exist in any individual case. Officers have been advised that support, appropriate to the circumstances of the particular case, may be provided to rent supplement tenants for up to two months, while alternative accommodation is being sourced within the existing rent limits.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 466: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason for the delay in payment of jobseeker's benefit to a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will arrange for payment. [22474/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned claimed jobseekers benefit on 17th February 2009. There is a discrepancy in his contribution record for 2007 and enquiries are being made with his former employer. A decision on his entitlement to jobseekers benefit will be made as soon as these enquiries are completed and the current PRSI contributions applicable is determined. In the meantime it is open to the person concerned to apply for jobseekers allowance or for supplementary welfare allowance.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 467: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will take steps to review the decision to abolish the Christmas bonus for persons, which was announced in supplementary budget of 7 April 2009; if steps will be taken to immediately announce the reversal of this decision, which has impacted upon thousands of elderly people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22504/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that in the context of the current economic circumstances, it has been necessary for the Government to take steps to reduce overall public expenditure in order to restore order and stability in the public finances. This has involved reviewing all public expenditure programmes, including social welfare programmes, which at some €21.3 billion in 2009 form a substantial portion of overall public expenditure.

In order to avoid cutting all the weekly social welfare payment rates, while trying to keep the welfare budget at a level the State can afford, it has been necessary to discontinue funding for the Christmas bonus. Payment of a 100% Christmas bonus in 2009 would cost an estimated €223 million. The net savings which will be achieved in the decision not to pay the Christmas bonus could not be effected by any other measure. The decision not to pay the Christmas bonus was the most difficult the Government had to make in framing the supplementary Budget.

While very difficult decisions have been taken in order to restore order and stability in the public finances, I have been successful in keeping expenditure control measures in the social welfare area to an absolute minimum and in ensuring that the most vulnerable in society have been protected from their effects.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 468: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason maintenance payments in excess of €95.23 are assessed in rent allowance calculations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22513/09]

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 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 supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to their family circumstances less a weekly minimum contribution of €24, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €24 because recipients are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appropriate basic supplementary welfare allowance rate towards their accommodation costs.

Social welfare legislation provides that all income, subject to certain disregards, is assessable for supplementary welfare allowance purposes. Under section 196(1) (b) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 "the weekly means of any person for the purpose of ascertaining his or her entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance shall be calculated in accordance with the Rules contained in Part 4 of Schedule 3" of the Act. Rule 1(2) provides that all income in cash is assessable as means for the purpose of entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance.

However, in assessing the means of a person for rent supplement purposes, the first €75 a week of earnings or maintenance payments, together with 25% of any additional such income above €75 can be disregarded. This is to ensure that the family benefits from the extra earnings/maintenance income up to that level before it affects entitlement to rent supplement.

As explained previously, vouched housing costs of up to €95.23 per week (rent or mortgage) are disregarded in assessing maintenance payments as means when determining entitlement to one-parent family payment. However, this amount is assessable in deciding the appropriate level of rent supplement payable to a lone parent with income from maintenance payments, as the rent supplementation payment is based on the net amount that a person has available to meet their accommodation costs from their own resources. In these circumstances, the earnings/maintenance disregard for a one parent family claimant claiming rent supplement support is applicable only to such income in excess of the sum of €95.23 a week.

Overall, the means assessment rules are designed to give an incentive to lone parents to seek maintenance payments to improve their household income position, while ensuring that families in that situation have access to the appropriate levels of rent supplementation to meet their accommodation needs.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 469: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding the application for disability benefit of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath which was submitted more than six months ago when the applicant lost a limb in an accident; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22544/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned was paid Illness Benefit (formerly known as Disability Benefit) from 25 May 2007 to 26 May 2008. Under Department of Social and Family Affairs Regulations, a person with less than 260 paid contributions is not entitled to payment of Illness Benefit for more than 52 weeks (312 days). In this case, the person concerned has a total of 205 paid reckonable contributions, therefore entitlement to payment of Illness Benefit was limited to 52 weeks. To re-qualify for payment of Illness Benefit, the person would need a further 13 reckonable contributions. This person remains qualified for credited contributions for medical evidence submitted and he is certified to a current date.

The person concerned applied for Disability Allowance on 14 July 2008 Disability Allowance is a weekly Allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged over 16 and under 66. The disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and a habitual residency test. The application for Disability Allowance was refused on 15 December 2008 due to the non disclosure of means. His file was subsequently returned to his local Social Welfare Inspector who has recently carried out another means test. The person concerned will be notified of the outcome upon receipt of the Social Welfare's Inspector's report.

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 470: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her plans to restore Christmas bonus payments for social welfare recipients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22559/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that in the context of the current economic circumstances, it has been necessary for the Government to take steps to reduce overall public expenditure in order to restore order and stability in the public finances. This has involved reviewing all public expenditure programmes, including social welfare programmes, which at some €21.3 billion in 2009 form a substantial portion of overall public expenditure.

In order to avoid cutting all the weekly social welfare payment rates, while trying to keep the welfare budget at a level the State can afford, it has been necessary to discontinue funding for the Christmas bonus. Payment of a 100% Christmas bonus in 2009 would cost an estimated €223 million. The net savings which will be achieved in the decision not to pay the Christmas bonus could not be effected by any other measure. The decision not to pay the Christmas bonus was the most difficult the Government had to make in framing the supplementary Budget.

While very difficult decisions have been taken in order to restore order and stability in the public finances, I have been successful in keeping expenditure control measures in the social welfare area to an absolute minimum and in ensuring that the most vulnerable in society have been protected from their effects.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 471: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position in relation to the application for rent allowance rate in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22612/09]

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 as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

The recent Supplementary Budget provided for the weekly minimum contribution that a person is expected to pay towards their rent to be increased from €18 to €24 from 1 June 2009. The Supplementary Budget also provided that payments currently being made to existing rent supplement tenants be reduced by 8% from the same date.

The Executive has advised that prior to 1 June 2009, the person concerned was in receipt of rent supplement of €190.20 per week, based on household income of jobseekers and disability allowance. A deduction of €10.00 a week was being made to discharge an overpayment of supplementary welfare allowance which arose in 2008, leaving him with a net weekly rent supplement payment of €180.20. When the reductions to rent supplement payments, provided for in the Supplementary Budget, were applied from 1 June 2009, his entitlement to rent supplement of €190.20 was reduced by €21 to €169.20 per week or a net €159.20 when the €10 a week deduction is made in respect of the overpayment of supplementary welfare allowance in 2008. If the circumstances of the person concerned have changed, he should contact the community welfare officer at the local Health Centre and request a review of his entitlement to rent supplement.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 472: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when a decision will be made on an application by a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22620/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned made a claim for jobseekers allowance on 4 June 2009 and this has been forwarded to a social welfare inspector for investigation of his means. The person concerned will be advised of the outcome in due course. The claim will be decided as soon as possible and the person concerned will be advised of the outcome immediately thereafter.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in Dublin 11 was refused a request for an oral hearing in respect of an application for carer's allowance and if, in view of the fact that this person is the sole carer in this case, she will arrange for a hearing to be scheduled as originally requested. [22639/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A claim for Carer's Allowance by the person concerned was disallowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department on 24 September 2008 on the grounds that she was not providing full time care and attention to the person being cared for. She appealed this decision on 8 October 2008 and I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer made a summary decision disallowing the appeal. Legislation provides that summary decisions may be made where the Appeals Officer is of the opinion that a case is of such a nature that it can be properly determined on the basis of documentary evidence and without an oral hearing. The Appeals Officer does not intend to reopen this case by way of an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of the Department that is independently responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.