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431 Questions— 22 February 2005. Written Answers 432[Mr. Brennan.]has advised that, having assessed his circumstances,the person concerned was awarded basicsupplementary welfare allowance in December2004 on the condition that it would be for a limitedperiod to allow him a further opportunity tomake reasonable efforts to secure employment.He failed to make reasonable efforts subsequentlyto seek employment and payment ofhis supplementary welfare allowance was terminatedas a result at the end of January 2005. Hewas unsuccessful in appealing against thisdecision to the executive’s area appeals officerand at his request his case has been referred tothe social welfare appeals office for review.The executive has further advised that the wifeof the person concerned is in part-time employment.She was absent from work through illnessrecently and received a reduced rate of disabilitybenefit from my Department. In addition to thisbenefit she received assistance under the supplementarywelfare allowance scheme to ensurethat the overall household income was maintainedat the supplementary welfare allowancelevel appropriate to the family circumstances.Decentralisation Programme.229. Ms Harkin asked the Minister for Socialand Family Affairs the situation regarding thedecentralisation of jobs to Carrick-on-Shannon,County Leitrim, and to Sligo; the timetable fordecentralisation to Carrick-on-Shannon andSligo; and the number of persons who haveapplied for each centre. [5753/05]Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr.Brennan): Under the Government decentralisationprogramme announced as part of budget2004, my Department is required to relocate 100posts to Sligo and 225 posts to Carrick-on-Shannon. According to figures received by myDepartment from the central applications facilitythe number of applicants for Sligo and Carrickon-Shannonis 69 and 280 respectively. These figuresrepresent applications made through thecentral applications facility before the priorityapplication date of 7 September 2004.The decentralisation implementation groupreport to the Minister for Finance of 19 November2004 made recommendations on thelocations and organisations to be included in thefirst phase of moves. In the case of my Department,Sligo was included in the first phase ofmoves and Carrick-on-Shannon was recommendedas a potential location for an early move.The estimated date given in the report for thecompletion of building works in Sligo is the thirdquarter of 2006 and in Carrick-on-Shannon thesecond quarter of 2007.The Office of Public Works has been chargedwith securing suitable accommodation in thedecentralised locations. It has confirmed to myDepartment that the planned extension to thepension services office in Sligo will accommodatestaff relocating under the decentralisation programme.It is expected that the contractors will beon site by mid-year, with completion scheduledfor early 2007.In the meantime, my Department has initiatedplans, subject to the availability of suitable temporaryaccommodation to relocate the supplementarywelfare allowance section to Sligothis year. The Office of Public Works is in theprocess of identifying suitable accommodation inCarrick-on-Shannon. Detailed plans, includingtimescales will be completed once a site hasbeen procured.Social Welfare Benefits.230. Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Socialand Family Affairs the reason recipients of socialwelfare are entitled to child benefit for childrenup to 21 years in full-time education, while personswho are in employment are entitled to drawchild benefit only for children up to 19 years ofage in full-time education; and if he will make astatement on the matter. [5759/05]Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr.Brennan): Child benefit is payable in respect ofchildren up to the age of 16 years and continuesto be paid in respect of children up to age 19years while they remain in full-time education, orwhere they have a physical or mental disability.Payment of child benefit does not extend beyonda child’s 19th birthday. Child benefit is payable inrespect of all children whether or not the parentsare in employment or in receipt of social welfarepayments.Child dependant allowance is an additionalpayment made to social welfare recipients inrespect of each qualified child dependant. In thecase of short-term payments this allowance ispayable in respect of a child who is under 18 yearsof age.Payment of the allowance continues to age 22years where the person is in receipt of a longtermsocial welfare payment, or a short-termsocial welfare payment for six months or moreand the child is in full-time education.231. Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Socialand Family Affairs the number of persons inreceipt of single parent payments in the Dublin11 area; their breakdown by category; and if hewill make a statement on the matter. [5760/05]Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr.Brennan): The number of people in receipt of aone-parent family payment with an address in theDublin 11 postal district is 2,467. The breakdownby category is unmarried parents, 2,079; separatedspouses, 376; widowed persons, 11; and prisoners’spouses, one.232. Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Socialand Family Affairs the number of persons inreceipt of social welfare allowances. [5845/05]Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr.Brennan): The objective of the supplementary
433 Questions— 22 February 2005. Written Answers 434welfare allowance scheme, which is administeredon behalf of my Department by the communitywelfare division of the Health Service Executive,is to provide assistance to eligible people in theState whose means are insufficient to meet theirbasic needs.In addition to a basic weekly allowance, assistancemay be provided in the form of supplementswhich may be paid in respect of needs such asrent, mortgage interest, diet or special heatingrequirements or in any other case where itappears to the executive that the circumstancesof the case so warrant.A single payment can also be made to meetan exceptional need or in urgent situations. Suchpayments are made at the discretion of the executivetaking into account the particular circumstancesof a case.Details of the numbers of recipients are summarisedin the following table:Number of Recipients of Supplementary Welfare Allowanceat 11 February 2005.RecipientsBasic Supplementary Welfare Allowance 30,048Supplement in respect of:Rent 57,714Mortgage Interest 3,283Diet 2,514Heating 3,205Other 3,980Exceptional/Urgent Needs Payment 4,627Total 115,371*Includes interim payments to applicants for other social welfareschemes.233. Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister forSocial and Family Affairs if he will reconsider theapplication of a person (details supplied) inCounty Galway who has previously applied, andbeen turned down for, the back-to-educationallowance given that the application was turneddownon the grounds that the number of days duringwhich the person was in receipt of social welfarepayment fell short of the minimum given.[5923/05]Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr.Brennan): The back-to-education allowance is asecond chance education opportunities programmedesigned to encourage and facilitatepeople on certain social welfare payments toimprove their skills and qualifications and, therefore,their prospects of returning to the activework force.To qualify for participation in the scheme anapplicant must be, inter alia, in receipt of a relevantsocial welfare payment for at least sixmonths if pursuing a second level course of study.The qualifying period for third level courses ofstudy was increased from six months to 15 monthsfor new applicants from September 2004.This qualifying period is to be reduced from15 months to 12 months from September 2005.However, the person concerned started his courseof study in September 2004 when the qualifyingperiod was 15 months and does not, therefore,satisfy the eligibility criteria for participation inthe scheme.Social Welfare Appeals.234. Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Socialand Family Affairs when a decision will be madein respect of an appeal regarding rent allowancefor a person (details supplied) in CountyKilkenny; and if he will make a statement on thematter. [5939/05]Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr.Brennan): Rent supplements are provided forthrough the supplementary welfare allowancescheme which is administered on behalf of myDepartment by the community welfare divisionof the Health Service Executive. Under standardassessment rules, rent supplements are calculatedto ensure that an eligible person, after the paymentof rent, has an income equal to the rate ofsupplementary welfare allowance appropriate tohis or her family circumstances, less a minimumcontribution of \13 which each recipient isrequired to pay from his or her own resources.In addition to this minimum contribution, eachrecipient is also required to contribute any assessablemeans he or she has over and above theappropriate supplementary welfare allowancerate.Supplementary welfare allowance is not normallypayable to people who are engaged in fulltimeemployment. However, arrangements havebeen in place for a number of years which allowpeople to retain a portion of their rent supplementwhere they take up employment throughapproved schemes such as community employment,subject to a weekly household income limitof \317.43. In such cases, the supplement may beretained on a tapered basis over a period of upto four years. Participants in community employmenthave the option of being assessed for rentsupplement purposes under either standard orspecial retention rules, depending on whichoption is more favourable in their situation.The Dublin-mid-Leinster office of the HealthService Executive was contacted regarding thiscase and has advised that the person concernedhad been in receipt of rent supplement which wasbased on her income from one-parent family payment.It came to the attention of the executivethat the person concerned is now participating ina community employment scheme. The level ofher household income is now such that she doesnot qualify for rent supplement under either thetapered retention rules or standard assessmentrules. Her rent supplement was terminated
Page 1 and 2: 337 Questions— 22 February 2005.
Page 47: 429 Questions— 22 February 2005.

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