Written answers

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Department of Social Protection

Regulatory and Poverty Impact Assessments

9:00 pm

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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Question 429: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the guidelines applied in her Department for the way and when a Regulatory Impact Analysis and a Poverty Impact Assessment should be carried out on legislation and on policy proposals, in particular with regard to the exceptions that are provided for; her views on whether that it is best practice that these should be carried out on all legislation at as early a stage in the legislative process as possible, and prior to the legislation's commencement through the Oireachtas; if either a RIA or PIA has been carried out on the social welfare related provisions of the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012; and if not, the reason for same. [20323/12]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection undertakes Regulatory Impact Analyses and Poverty Impact Assessments in accordance with the relevant guidelines. Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIA) are carried out in accordance with the latest guidelines published by the Department of the Taoiseach, and Poverty Impact Assessments (PIA) are carried out in accordance with the latest guidelines for such assessments published by the Social Inclusion Division of the Department of Social Protection. Poverty Impact Assessments are integrated within the Regulatory Impact Assessment process, which includes a specific requirement to examine the impacts of regulatory proposals on the socially excluded and vulnerable groups.

The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012, which was published on 5 April 2012, contains a range of amendments to the social welfare code and to the Pensions Act 1990. A Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) has been undertaken on the amendments being proposed to the Pensions Act 1990 and this RIA is available on the Department's website at -http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Policy/Legislation/Regulatory%20Impact%20Analysis/Documents/riapension.pdf .

The other measures included in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012 relate to certain amendments to the social welfare code arising from Budget 2012, as well as measures to control fraud and abuse of the social welfare system, to clarify the operation of the Social Insurance Fund, and to facilitate the issuing of Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) and Public Services Cards. A Regulatory Impact Analysis is not ordinarily undertaken on the package of measures announced in the annual Budget Day Statements. The other social welfare measures included in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012 are not considered amenable to the undertaking of a RIA. With regard to Poverty Impact Assessment, the social welfare measures being provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012 comprise one element of the overall Budget package of social welfare changes. That overall package of social welfare changes is itself just one element of wider Budget package of tax and welfare changes. A Poverty Impact Assessment of social welfare measures contained in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012 would, in isolation, be out of balance.

However, the Department of Social Protection, in conjunction with the Department of Finance, is preparing an analysis of the distributive and poverty impacts on families of the Budget 2012 tax and welfare packages. This analysis is currently being finalised and will shortly be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy. After that, I will arrange for this analysis to be published on the Department's website, in line with the arrangements I put in place last year. As the potential effects of the introduction of a risk reserve on the funding position of pension schemes are not definitively quantifiable due to variable factors, the amendments contained in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012 that are being proposed to the Pensions Act 1990 are not considered amenable to the undertaking of a Poverty Impact Assessment.

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