Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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414. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider the request by an organisation (details supplied) to make provision for free travel passes to be allocated to persons diagnosed with epilepsy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56871/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators. There are currently approx. 1,012,000 customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2021 is €95 million.

In general, access to a free travel pass for those aged under 66 is linked to a person being in receipt of certain primary Social Protection payments such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit.

While I am aware of the campaign by Epilepsy Ireland, extending the free travel scheme to people with epilepsy during the period in which they are disallowed from driving cannot be considered in isolation. There are a range of disabilities and medical conditions that can prevent a person from holding a driving licence and to award a free travel pass to a person with any one of these conditions in isolation would immediately result in calls for all people who are not allowed to hold a driving licence because of their medical condition to receive the free travel pass and could result in challenges under the Equal Status Act.

If the Free Travel scheme were to be extended to all people who are not allowed to drive due to their disability, regardless of whether they receive a qualifying payment, a medical assessment process would be required for all such applications, significantly changing the nature of the scheme and requiring additional administrative processes to be put in place in order to adjudicate eligibility. Significant extra funding would also be required and, accordingly, it could only be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

While consideration is always given to any requests to improve or extend eligibility to the free travel scheme, uncoupling the link between receipt of particular social welfare payments and eligibility for the free travel scheme would so fundamentally alter the scheme that it would move it away from being a social welfare measure to being a general transport initiative.

Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, my Department may award a travel supplement, where the circumstances of the particular case so warrant. The supplement is intended to assist with ongoing or recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the client’s own resources and are deemed to be necessary. Every decision is based on consideration of the circumstances of the individual case, taking account of the nature and extent of the need and of the resources of the person concerned.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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415. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the carer's allowance entitlement is affected by taking up the role of a census enumerator given it does not have prescribed hours; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56899/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care.

A person can be considered to be providing full-time care and attention where they are engaged in employment, self-employment or on training courses for a maximum 18.5 hours per week, provided that they can show to the satisfaction of a deciding officer that adequate care has been provided for the care recipient in their absence.

According to the census website www.census.ie the role of an enumerator will require a minimum of 22 hours work per week.

Therefore a person taking on this role would not meet the above condition and would have no entitlement to carers allowance.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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416. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on a disability allowance appeal by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56961/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned was notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision on 15 November 2021.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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417. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if contributions can be considered for an alternative year instead of the previous tax year with regard to self-employed persons retiring and moving to the benefit for person over 65 years of age in 2021, in recognition of the fact that many businesses were heavily impacted by Covid-19 which in turn affected their contributions and resulting benefit payment rate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57005/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Benefit Payment for 65 year olds was introduced in line with the Programme for Government commitment, to provide a benefit payment for people who are aged 65 and who are required to retire, or who chose to retire, without a requirement to sign on, engage in activation measures or be available for and genuinely seeking work.

To be eligible for the payment a person must satisfy all the qualifying conditions of the scheme including the requirement to have the specified number of social insurance contributions paid. In the case of a self-employed person, they must have paid at least 156 PRSI contributions at Class S or have paid at least 104 PRSI contributions at Class A or H since entering employment and have paid 52 PRSI self-employment contributions at Class S in the Governing Contribution Year. The Governing Contribution Year is the second last complete tax year, for example, for a claim in 2021 the second last complete tax year is 2019.

The attribution of contributions in respect of periods impacted by the pandemic is intended to ensure that persons entitled to and in receipt of certain Covid-19 income supports, including PUP, will not be disadvantaged in accessing social insurance benefits in the future.

The legislation underpinning the measure makes provision for the Minister for Social Protection, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and having considered certain matters set out in the legislation, to prescribe the number of self-employment contributions to be attributed to a self-employed contributor.

A self-employed contributor has a period of time following the end of the contribution year to remit and pay his or her social insurance liability for that contribution year. For example, self-employed contributors have until the end of October 2021 to file their self-assessment tax returns for 2020, including the payment of social insurance contributions where they are liable to do so for that year.

Once data on the social insurance returns made by self-employed workers in respect of 2020 are available towards the end of this year or early in 2022, I and my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will be in a position to prescribe, as appropriate, the number of self-employment contributions required to protect the social insurance entitlements of self-employed workers who were in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment in 2020 and who were not in a position to discharge their social insurance liability for that year.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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418. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on a carer’s benefit application by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57020/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's benefit (CARB) is a payment made to insured people who leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a child or an adult in need of full-time care and attention.

To qualify, the carer must satisfy PRSI conditions, employment conditions, show that they are providing full-time care and attention and must show that the care recipient requires full-time care and attention.

An application for Carer’s benefit was received from the person concerned on 20 October 2021.

The application was awarded to the person concerned with effect from 21 October 2021. The first payment will have issued to her nominated bank account on 18 November 2021.

Arrears of benefit due from 21 October 2021 will also have issued to her bank on 18 November 2021.

The person concerned was notified on 16 November 2021 of this decision, the reason for it and of her right of review and appeal.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.