Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

589. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment is treated as a qualifying payment for back to school clothing and footwear allowance but the payment for the wage subsidy scheme is not, as was the case for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36927/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn.  The scheme operates from June to September each year.

The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid and eligible children between the ages of 18 and 22 who are in full-time second level education and in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid. 

To qualify for BSCFA a person must meet a number of conditions; namely:

- The child must meet the age criteria.

- The applicant must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and getting an increase in that payment for the qualified child (except in certain circumstances) in the period 1 June to 30 September.

- The assessable income for the household must be within prescribed limits.

- The applicant and the child (or children) in respect of whom the allowance is claimed must be resident in the State.

This year, the eligibility criteria for the BSCFA scheme were extended to include the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment as a qualifying payment for the allowance.  Recipients of this payment were also required to satisfy all other qualifying criteria in order to qualify for the allowance.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme are not  unemployment payment schemes operated by my Department.  These are schemes for  which responsibility lies with the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners and are or were available to employers to keep staff on their payroll during the pandemic.

An application was received from the spouse of the person in question and was disallowed as the conditions outlined above were not satisfied.  While applications which are outside the terms of the BSCFA scheme will not qualify for payment under that scheme, I should mention that individuals who are refused a BSCFA payment may be considered for exceptional needs payments (ENP) under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme by the officers administering this scheme in the normal way.

Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to an exceptional needs payment should contact the Department’s Community Welfare Service.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

590. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when pandemic unemployment payment arrears due to applicants dating back to March 2020 will be issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36962/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Since the introduction of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme in March, approximately 815,000 people have applied for payment and in some cases, they have done so on a number of occasions as they moved in and out of employment. Consequently, there are over 1.4 million applications to be examined to determine if arrears are due.

During the month of March, my Department received and processed jobseeker claims equivalent in number to a three year claim-load. These applications were processed as quickly as possible, with almost 59,000 people paid in the first week of the scheme, 283,000 people paid in the following week, and over 507,000 people in the third week of the scheme.  

My Department is keenly aware that many people are due some arrears and that every case will be different. In order to address an issue of this scale, my Department has been developing an automated process, which will examine each case and look at their overall entitlement to payment and match this against their payment history. The work involved is complex as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment system itself evolved from a manual applications system to one where applications were submitted online and paid over two different payment platforms (one from March to July and the second from July to date).

I can assure the Deputy that this work is a priority for my Department and it is hoped to make payments in the coming weeks.

I hope that this clarifies matters for the Deputy.