John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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478. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) who was unable to work and was in receipt of illness benefit for over thirty years and was not advised to apply for a disability allowance or invalidity pension following numerous medical reviews over the years, and is now only in receipt of a reduced State pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8537/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A change in the rules and regulations governing the Illness Benefit scheme in 2009 included the introduction of a limit on the period for which Illness Benefit can be paid. Subject to the level of relevant PRSI contributions paid, Illness Benefit is now only payable for a maximum period of 2 years. Where a person exhausts their entitlement to a payment of Illness Benefit and is expected to remain unfit to attend work for a further period of at least 12 months, they have the option of making an application for Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance.

At the time of the change mentioned above, those who had been in receipt of Illness Benefit on a long-term basis were, as an exceptional measure, afforded the option, subject to continued appropriate certification, to remain on Illness Benefit on a continuous duration basis or to make an application for Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance.

Some people, including the person identified by the Deputy, opted to remain on Illness Benefit rather than applying for the potentially long-term payments of Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance.

The application made by this person for the contributory State Pension was unsuccessful as they did not satisfy the PRSI contributions for that scheme. They were subsequently awarded a non-contributory State Pension which is subject to a means test. Having taken account of the financial circumstances in this case the person was awarded a payment at a reduced rate.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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479. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the up-to-date position in relation to negotiations regarding employees (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8542/23]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide long term unemployed people with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities,

I am very aware of the important role that CE supervisors, assistant supervisors and participants play in providing valuable and local based community services across the country.

As the Deputy will be aware, CE supervisors, assistant supervisors and participants are employees of the individual CE schemes, which are funded by the Department. Neither the Department, or the state, is the employer of these groups of workers.

The Department of Social Protection, in its role as funder of CE schemes is in ongoing contact with CE supervisors' representatives including union representatives, on a range of issues of common concern.

In relation to the specific issue on pay, the Department received correspondence last year from Fórsa and SIPTU seeking a pay increase for CE supervisors and assistant supervisors. Fórsa and SIPTU, along with ICTU, subsequently referred this pay claim to the conciliation service of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The WRC issued an invite to the Department to take part in a conciliation process. Following Government approval, the Department responded to the WRC indicating a willingness to engage with a WRC conciliation process, in its role as funder of these schemes.

This conciliation process is now underway - with the first meeting in the WRC held on Thursday 2nd February. Department officials attended and engaged with ICTU, Fórsa and SIPTU representatives to progress this issue. As the Deputy will appreciate, while this process is underway, I am not in a position to comment further, other than to say - I am hopeful that an agreed and fair resolution can be reached through this conciliation process.

It should be noted that any increase in CE supervisor pay rates that would increase the overall cost to the state of funding employment schemes, must take into consideration the potential cost to the exchequer and ultimately the taxpayer. Therefore the Department will also continue to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform during the WRC process. If there are budgetary implications arising from the WRC process - these will need Government approval.

As the Deputy may be aware, pay rates for CE participants are a separate matter. Their rate of payment is related to the underlying value of certain social protection payments plus €27.50 per week. As part Budget 2023, participants on CE schemes received an increase of €17 per week; increasing the minimum payment from €230.50 to €247.50 per week from January 2023.

In addition, weekly payments for qualified child dependents increased by €2 to €50 for children aged 12 or over and to €40 for children aged up to 12.

A number of once off bonus payments were also announced in Budget 2023, which have benefited eligible CE participants, including a once off payment of €400 for those in receipt of the Fuel Allowance. These are in addition to the Autumn Cost of Living double week payment, the double payment of Child Benefit in November and the Christmas double payment in December 2022.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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480. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the up-to-date position in relation to payments to a group (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8543/23]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The Deputy will be aware that a final settlement was reached with unions at the end of 2021 to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme for CE supervisors and CE assistant supervisors who are employed by CE scheme sponsoring organisations. The settlement resolved the long-standing issue through the payment of a once off ex-gratia payment to eligible CE supervisors and assistant supervisors.

Generally, under the terms of this settlement, on reaching retirement age, eligible CE supervisors and assistant supervisors will receive a once off ex-gratia payment in respect of time employed by CE schemes since 2008.

In total, 664 applications have been received to date. 619 claims have been awarded with a total of almost €5.5 million paid to date.

Processing and payment of claims for people who retire during 2023 will continue as they retire and submit their claims.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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481. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on an application for disability allowance by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8562/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions

I confirm that my department received an application for DA from the person concerned on 18 January 2023.

The processing time for individual DA claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity in terms of the three main qualifying criteria, the person’s circumstances and the information they provide in support of their claim.

An information request letter was sent to the person concerned on 26 January 2023 to supply supporting documentation to determine her eligibility for DA. The requested information was received on 03 February 2023.

A further information request letter was sent to the person concerned on 15 February 2023 to supply additional supporting documentation and allowed 21 days for the return of the information.

On receipt of this information a decision will be made, and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.