Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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590. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports that are available for self-employed persons who become ill and cannot continue to work or claim illness benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37117/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability.

Illness Benefit is the primary income support payment for people who cannot work due to illness of any type and are covered by social insurance.

Self-employed people who make PRSI contributions at Class S do not qualify for Illness Benefit. This is due to the fact that Class S contributions to the Social Insurance Fund are made at a lower rate of 4%. In order to qualify for Illness Benefit people must have made the required number of contributions under Class A, E, H or P.

There has been an extensive expansion of access to the range of social insurance benefits for self-employed contributors in recent years without any increase in the 4% rate of contribution made by them. In effect, self-employed contributors, in return for a contribution of 11 percentage points lower than the combined employer and employee contribution of 15.05% made in respect of employed contributors, have access to benefits which comprise over 90% of the value of all benefits available to employed contributors.

Where all qualification criteria are satisfied, Class S PRSI gives access to Adoptive Benefit, Guardian's Payment (Contributory), Invalidity Pension, Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed), Maternity Benefit, Parent's Benefit, Partial Capacity Benefit (where in receipt of Invalidity Pension), Paternity Benefit, State Pension (Contributory), Treatment Benefit, and Widows, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension.

The benefits to which class S PRSI does not provide access are Carer's Benefit, Health and Safety Benefit, Illness Benefit, and Occupational Injuries Benefits.

Self-employed people may qualify for long-term payments Disability Allowance or Invalidity Pension if they satisfy all eligibility criteria.

Disability Allowance is a social assistance payment for people with a disability who are aged 16-66 and are resident in the state. Applicants are subject to medical and means assessments.

Invalidity Pension is a social insurance payment for people who cannot work because of a long-term illness or disability. Eligibility is based on PRSI contribution record, this payment is not means-tested. Applicants are, however, subject to a medical assessment.

Although self-employed people are not usually eligible for Illness Benefit, an exception was made in relation to Covid-19 enhanced Illness Benefit, primarily as a public health measure. The purpose of this payment is to encourage people to not go to work due to financial constraint when they should be in isolation.

Apart from these income supports, my Department provides means tested supports under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who are ill but who do not qualify for illness and disability payments. An Additional Needs Payment is also available to people who have expenses that they cannot pay from their weekly income.

My Department keeps its income supports under review in order to make sure they meet their objectives. Any changes to the current system would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The development of services and policies to prevent social exclusion and improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities operates through a cross government framework which includes relevant departments, agencies and, importantly, disability sector representatives, under a number of key national strategies and action plans. The two main national strategies in this area are the National Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is the lead Department with regards to both of these strategies.

In addition, on 10 June, Minister of State Rabbitte, launched an open call for Expressions of Interest to join the Autism Innovation Strategy Oversight and Advisory Group. This announcement followed the launch of an initial public consultation on the Autism Innovation Strategy, which took place from 29 April 2022 to 30 May 2022. The Oversight and Advisory Group’s main role will be to oversee implementation of the Autism Innovation Strategy which aims to accelerate Ireland's journey towards becoming an autism-inclusive and neurodiverse-friendly society. Full details are available on Gov.ie.

The Department of Social Protection provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability. It is important to note that entitlement to these supports is generally not contingent on the nature of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work.

In addition, the Department also provides a wide range of employment services and supports to assist jobseekers and existing employees with disabilities, and to incentivise employers in the private sector to both recruit (and support existing) employees with disabilities.