Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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468. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason that payments to guardians have been delayed to all applicants looking after unaccompanied Ukrainian children who fled the war in Ukraine leaving their parents behind; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27680/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is providing ongoing support and services to assist people covered by the Temporary Protection Directive who are fleeing Ukraine and who arrive in Ireland, such as the provision of PPSNs and income supports. 

Guardian’s payments are made to a person caring for a child who satisfies the definition of an “orphan” under social welfare legislation.  A child is considered an orphan if they are under age 18 (or up to age 22 if in full time education) and both parents are deceased; or one parent is either dead or unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child and the other parent is unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child.   

All applications for Guardians payment in respect of a Ukrainian child will be examined by a Deciding Officer to determine whether the child satisfies the definition of an orphan.  Where a parent has sent a child from Ukraine to Ireland and has entered into a private arrangement regarding the care of their child, such care arrangements are not considered to constitute parental abandonment.  As such, the child cannot be deemed to satisfy the definition of an orphan and any application for Guardians payment would be refused. 

Child Benefit may be payable to a person caring for a child aged under 16 years where the child normally lives and is supported by them.  The rate of payment is €140 a month for each child.  Child Benefit can also be paid for children aged 16 and 17 if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have additional needs and cannot support themselves. 

In addition, a person in receipt of a Social Welfare payment, can apply for an increase for qualified child by contacting the relevant scheme area.  

Unaccompanied children under 18 years who are seeking temporary protection from the war in Ukraine should refer to the Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) for relevant supports, which falls under the remit of my colleague the Minister Roderic O'Gorman at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

A decision letter will be issued to each applicant as soon as the claim has been examined.  Where an application is refused my officials will advise customers to engage with Túsla.  If the person is not satisfied with the Deciding Officer's decision they can appeal it to the independent Chief Appeals Officer, D'Olier House, D'Olier St, Dublin 2.

I trust the above clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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469. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason that a payments to guardians have been delayed as in the case of a person (details supplied) who has applied for a payment for a young Ukrainian child who fled Mariupol in Ukraine without their parents who are military police; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27682/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Guardian’s payments are made to a person caring for a child who satisfies the definition of an “orphan” under social welfare legislation.  A child is considered an orphan if they are under age 18 (or up to age 22 if in full time education) and both parents are deceased; or one parent is either dead or unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child and the other parent is unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child. 

Based on the evidence available, it has been decided that the person concerned is not entitled to a guardians payment.  The care arrangements in place are as a result of a temporary, private, mutual agreement between the person concerned and the child's mother.  Consequently, the care arrangement in place cannot constitute parental abandonment, and as such the child cannot be considered an orphan in accordance with the provisions governing the scheme.  Guardians payment therefore is not payable.  

Unaccompanied children under 18 years who are seeking temporary protection from the war in Ukraine should refer to the Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) for relevant supports, which falls under the remit of my colleague the Minister Roderic O'Gorman at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

A decision letter has issued to the person concerned.  If they are not satisfied with the Deciding Officer's decision, they can appeal it by writing to the independent Chief Appeals Officer, D'Olier House, D'Olier St, Dublin 2.

I trust the above clarifies the matter for the Deputy.  

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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470. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for the delay in processing an illness benefit application for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27700/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The processing of the claim in question was delayed due to the fact the person concerned was an adult dependent on their spouse's claim.  A person cannot receive a payment in their own right while at the same time being a dependent on another person's claim.

The overlap of the claims has been addressed and the claim put into payment with appropriate arrears issued to the person concerned.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy. 

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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471. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the process of appeals for social welfare applications has changed regionally and nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27710/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the Deputy has clarified that this question relates to whether any structural process changes have taken place regarding the administration of the appeals system, including whether there has been any centralisation of the function and, in particular, in relation to the supplementary welfare scheme. 

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.  There have been no recent changes to the structure of the Appeals Office. 

The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents.  Supports provided under the SWA scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single exceptional needs payments (ENPs) and urgent needs payments (UNPs).  Applications made under the SWA Scheme are administered by Designated Persons (DP) in the Community Welfare Service in the Department.

Determinations made by Designated Persons in relation to claims made under Sections 196, 197 and 198 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 i.e. Basic SWA and all Supplements, can be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office under Section 311 of that Act and this has not changed.  Appeals from customers who are dissatisfied with the decision on their application are reviewed by the Designated Person to assess if new information has been made available and, where the decision on the application remains unchanged, the appeal is sent to the Social Welfare Appeals Office for consideration by an Appeals Officer.

Decisions made in relation to claims made under Sections 200, 201 and 202 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, namely ENPs and UNPs are not appelable to the Appeals Office but can be reviewed by a SWA Reviewing Officer under Section 323 of that Act.  In order to make this process more accessible for customers, they may now send their request for a review to a PO Box in the Department using a FREEPOST service.  The request for the review of the Designated Person’s decision is then sent to an independent SWA Reviewing Officer to objectively review all of the information provided by the customer and assess the decision made by the Designated Person.  The only change to this process has been the provision of a FREEPOST PO Box service for the customer.

The Department's National Processing Team (NPT) now process all new claims for jobseekers payments and one parent family payment.  If a customer appeals a decision in relation to one of these schemes their appeal is registered by the Appeals Office and sent to the National Processing Team.  The decision giving rise to the appeal is reviewed by the NPT Appeals Team initially and forwarded to the Appeals Office for consideration if the decision is not revised in favour of the appellant. 

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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472. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated set-up costs attached to facilitating hot meals being made available in each primary school that currently does not have hot meals and that parents would be charged cost price for. [27799/22]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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473. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated set-up costs attached to facilitating hot meals being available in each secondary school that currently does not have hot meals, that parents would be charged cost-price for. [27800/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 472 and 473 together.

The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,506 schools and organisations benefitting 230,000 children.  The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, to take full advantage of the education provided to them.  The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.  

A budget of €68.1 million has been provided for the scheme in 2022.  

Funding provided by the Department is for food costs only.  Funding cannot be used to finance start-up costs, administration, equipment, salaries, bank charges or any other non-food costs.  The choice of school meals project and supplier to be used, as well as all financial and health and safety aspects, are the responsibility of the school/organisation. 

In the 2020/2021 school year there were 561,411 primary school children enrolled and 379,184 secondary school children enrolled.  The estimated overall cost of providing a hot school meal, free of charge to every primary school child and secondary school child is €474.5m.

The number of children currently in receipt of hot school meals is 54,236.  This represents almost 10% of the total primary school population.  There are no secondary school children in receipt of hot school meals as it is aimed at primary schools with no onsite cooking facilities.  

The estimated cost of providing hot school meals to the remaining primary schools that currently do not have hot meals is €252.3m.  The estimated cost of providing hot school meals to all secondary schools is €181.4m.

I am committed to continuing to grow the hot school meals element of the school meals programme for DEIS schools and building further on the significant extension announced as part of Budgets 2021 and 2022.  In this regard, I have commissioned an evaluation of the school meals programme to be undertaken in 2022 to inform future policy decisions on the scheme. 

Any extension of the school meals programme or the hot school meals beyond 2022 will need to be considered as part of the budgetary process. 

I trust that this clarifies the position for the deputy. 

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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474. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a 65 year-old person in receipt of rental income greater than €7,500 per annum is eligible for the benefit payment for 65 year olds. [27827/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds was introduced on 25^thJanuary 2021 in line with the Programme for Government commitment, to provide a benefit payment for people who are 65 and who retire at age 65 but do not qualify for a State pension until they reach pension age of 66.  

The benefit payment is provided under the Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed) social insurance schemes, as appropriate, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 as amended.  

In the case of the information provided by the Deputy, whereby a self-employed person is in receipt of rental income greater than €7,500 per annum, they are considered engaged in self-employment and do not meet the eligibility requirements under the Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed) scheme.

Any person aged 65 who does not qualify for the benefit payment may apply for means tested Jobseeker's Allowance.  A person can also be engaged in limited self-employment and may still qualify for a Jobseeker's Allowance payment subject to satisfying the scheme conditionality.

I hope that this clarifies the position.