Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1334: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total spend by his Department on social welfare schemes in 2009 and to date in 2010. [33723/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The total spend on social welfare in 2009 was €20,379,162,040. The equivalent total for the period 1st January 2010 to 31st July 2010 was €12,678,412,889. These expenditure figures are provisional and subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1335: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the approximate spend on means testing as a percentage of the total spend by his Department on social welfare schemes in 2009 and to date in 2010. [33724/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department spent approximately €7.5 billion in 2009 on social assistance schemes where entitlement is dependent on satisfying a means test. It is estimated that it will spend over €8.3 billion in 2010 on means tested schemes. These schemes are administered through a network of local offices, central and decentralised offices and in the case of supplementary welfare allowance through the offices of the community welfare officers.

The means of a claimant are established following an assessment of the claimant's financial position. This may be carried out at the relevant scheme office and, in some cases, may involve referral to a social welfare inspector to carry out a home visit. The means are determined by the deciding officer of the Department and as appropriate are used to adjust the amount of the payment, if any, a claimant will receive, subject to all the other conditions of the scheme being satisfied.

During 2009, over 370,000 claims of various types were finalised where a means test was part of the process. Nearly 260,000 such claims have already been finalised to end-August 2010. In addition Community Welfare officers processed 698,000 claims during 2009 and a further 531,000 claims in the year to date.

The initial means assessment and the ongoing review of means is an integral part of the processing and maintenance of claims. It is not possible to disaggregate the specific administration costs relating to means testing as it forms just one element of determining entitlement to a specific payment and, in many cases, the staff who administer these schemes in social welfare local offices or as part of the departmental inspectorate are also simultaneously administering other schemes, including schemes which do not have a means tested element.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1336: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of administering jobseeker's benefit claims as a percentage of the total spend on jobseeker's benefit in 2009 and to date in 2010. [33725/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1337: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of administering jobseeker's allowance claims as a percentage of the total spend on jobseeker's allowance in 2009 and to date in 2010. [33726/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1338: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of administering child benefit claims as a percentage of the total spend on child benefit in 2009 and to date in 2010. [33727/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1339: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of administering supplementary welfare allowance claims as a percentage of the total spend on supplementary welfare allowance claims in 2009 and to date in 2010. [33728/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1336 to 1339, inclusive, together.

Expenditure in 2009 and to the end of July, 2010, on the schemes in question is set out in the following table:

The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme is operated by the HSE on behalf of my Department. The expenditure for this scheme shown in the table above includes €62,226,000 (or 6% of total expenditure) in 2009 and €33,544,000 (or 5.8%) in the year to July 2010 paid the HSE to cover administration costs. In addition, my department incurred € 922,000 expenditure on policy and administration of SWA in 2009. The direct costs of administering the child benefit scheme in 2009 were € 5.53 million.

Jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit are part of the People of Working Age programme operated by my Department. The financial information in relation to this programme is published in the Annual Output Statement, 2010 which details both programme and administration expenditure as follows:

The programme for people of working age includes other significant schemes such as one parent family payment, illness benefit, maternity benefit and carer's allowance and benefit. It is not possible to disaggregate the specific administration costs relating to jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit because the staff who administer these schemes in social welfare local offices and as part of the departmental inspectorate are also simultaneously administering other schemes such as one parent family payment, farm assist and pre-retirement allowance.

Other costs arising from the administration of jobseeker's benefit and allowance, child benefit and supplementary welfare allowance are also incurred. These relate to the department's information technology infrastructure and central support services such as accounts, personnel, information and senior management are accounted for under the Operational Capabilities programme of the annual output statement. These costs are controlled at a business process level and are not analysed at individual scheme level.