Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

41. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the categories of social protection recipients who will not receive a Christmas bonus due to their length of time in receipt of a payment; why each of these categories is excluded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45519/15]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

51. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she is aware of any person who was awarded the Christmas bonus who had not been in receipt of a qualifying payment for 390 days or more; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45566/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 41 and 51 together.

On Budget Day, I was pleased to announce a 75% Christmas Bonus to over 1.2 million long-term social welfare recipients, such as pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and long-term jobseekers at a cost of €198 million.

The Bonus was introduced in 1980, and long-term jobseekers became eligible for the payment in 1985. Short-term jobseekers have never been eligible for the bonus, and this arrangement continues to apply this year.

In the case of most eligible schemes, all recipients of the payment receive the bonus and there is no duration requirement e.g. the State Pension, Widow's Pension, Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer's Allowance, etc.

Recipients of Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) must have in receipt of the payment for a minimum of 15 months (390 days) in order to be eligible for the bonus. Long-term jobseekers are eligible for the bonus in recognition of their being wholly or mostly financially dependent on their welfare payment for income.

Participants on JobBridge, who were in receipt of JA immediately prior to participation on the scheme, must have been in receipt of JA for 15 months prior to starting on JobBridge, or have 15 months duration in total combined on JA and JobBridge, in order to be eligible for the bonus. This arrangement also applies for participants on Back to Education Allowance. It should be noted that participants on these schemes who were previously in receipt of other eligible payments, such as Disability Allowance or One-Parent Family Payment, are automatically eligible for the bonus. The 15 months duration requirement applies only to those participants who were previously in receipt of JA immediately before starting on the scheme.

Two other payments also have the 15 months duration requirement – Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Direct Provision Allowance. The Christmas bonus (when paid in the past) was administered for SWA recipients by the Community Welfare Service (CWS) of the HSE. The CWS transferred into this Department in late 2011. Prior to the abolition of the Bonus in 2009, there was variation in the administration of the bonus across HSE areas. When the bonus was re-introduced last year, entitlement was standardised for SWA recipients in line with Jobseeker's Allowance. It should be noted that persons on Basic SWA (with a duration of less than 15 months) who are awaiting a decision on a long term scheme (to which the Bonus applies) will receive the Bonus if entitlement to the relevant scheme is backdated to cover the week in which the Bonus would have been payable for 2015.

The calculation of the 390 days is contingent on how claims are linked. If there is a break of up to 52 weeks in a person's JA claim – for instance, if a person in receipt of JA found employment that lasted for 10 months, or went on an Education and Training Board course, and subsequently claimed JA again – the time spent on JA immediately prior to the job/course would be combined with the time on the current claim in order to assess eligibility for the bonus. In this regard, a JA recipient's current claim may be less than 390 days and he or she can still qualify for the bonus, if the claim can be linked to a previous eligible claim.