Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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279. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will raise the €350 income threshold on the earnings disregard on disability allowance to €400; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47306/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There are currently in excess of 156,000 persons in receipt of means-tested disability payments from the Department, comprising some 154,500 persons in receipt of the Disability Allowance (DA) and some 1,060 in receipt of Blind Pension (BP).

The means assessment of DA reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of income or capital are in a position to use these resources to support themselves, so that social welfare expenditure can be directed towards those who need it most.

In the means test, cash income that is assessed includes any income from employment or self-employment (and spouse/partner, if applicable), income from a social security pension from another country and maintenance payments.  

Capital assessed as part of the means test includes all monies held in financial institutions or otherwise, the market value of shares, as well as houses and premises owned by a claimant which may or may not be put to commercial use.  The family home is never assessed as part of the means test, regardless of who is the legal owner.

Recipients of DA are supported to pursue employment or self-employment through earning disregards in the means test.  Budget 2021 saw a €20 increase to the earnings disregard, from €120 to €140 per week for both DA and BP.  As of June 2021, a DA (or BP) recipient can earn up to €140 per week from employment or self-employment without their payment being affected, while weekly earnings between €140 and €350 are assessed at a 50% rate only (i.e. 50% of earnings in this band are disregarded for the purposes of the means assessment). Earnings from employment over €350 per week are assessed on a euro for euro basis.

The conditions attached to payment of DA are consistent with the overall conditions that apply to social assistance payments generally.  This system of social assistance supports provides payments based on an income need with the means test playing the critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency – be that illness, disability, unemployment or caring. 

The Department continues to keep its range of income supports, including disregards, under review and any change proposed would have to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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280. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the qualifying criteria for the occupational injuries scheme, disability allowance and invalidity pension will be changed to include long Covid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47309/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Social Protection provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability. Entitlement to these supports is not contingent on the nature of the illness/disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work.  My Department spent a total of €4.7 billion on illness, disability and caring payments in 2020.

My Department operates the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme which is a group of benefits for people injured or incapacitated by an accident at work or while travelling directly to or from work. The scheme also covers people who have contracted a disease as a result of the type of work they do. There are a number of benefits available and there are different conditions attached to each benefit. The benefits include: Injury Benefit, Disablement Benefit, Incapacity Supplement, Constant Attendance Allowance and the Medical Care Scheme.

Covid-19 does not constitute a prescribed disease or illness as set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 as it does not meet the criteria laid down in the Act.  Section 87 (2) of the Act states that a disease or injury shall be prescribed for the purposes of this section in relation to any insured persons, where the Minister is satisfied that—

(a) it ought to be treated, having regard to its causes and any other relevant considerations, as a risk of their occu­pations and not as a risk common to all persons, and

(b) it is such that, in the absence of special circumstances, the attribution of particular cases to the nature of the employment can be established or presumed with reason­able certainty.

Illness Benefit is the primary income support payment for people who are unable to attend work due to illness of any type.  Additional payments may also be made in respect of a qualified adult and qualifying children.  It is payable for up to two years, based on the person’s continued eligibility.  An enhanced Illness Benefit is payable for up to ten weeks for people diagnosed with Covid-19, subject to ongoing medical certification.  In a case where a person continues to be ill with Covid-19 beyond ten weeks, standard Illness Benefit may be paid for an extended period, based on the person’s continued eligibility. 

Invalidity Pension is a pension paid to people who are “permanently incapable of work” because of illness or disability.  It is based on a claimant's social insurance contributions and medical condition and is not means tested.

Disability Allowance (DA) is a means-tested payment for people with a specified disability who are aged between 16 and 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.

Apart from these income supports, my Department also provides means tested supports under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who are ill but who do not qualify for other schemes.  The Department may also make an Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income.   

The Department regularly reviews its supports and payments schemes to ensure that they continue to meet their objectives.  As set out above, a comprehensive set of income support payments is in place for those experiencing illness and disability, based on a person’s medical condition and either their social insurance contributions or means testing.  It is generally the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work rather than the nature of the illness or disability that is taken into account when eligibility is being assessed.