Written answers
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Social Welfare Schemes
Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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531. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of reviews of disability allowance carried out in 2023 and 2024 to date; the number of people who had their payment removed in each year due to exceeding the income disregard; the number of additional disability allowance recipients who qualified in each year; the total spent on disability allowance in 2023 and 2024 to date; the projected out-turn for 2024 and proposed budget for 2025; the number of recipients projected for next year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43100/24]
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.
The total number of reviews of DA carried out in 2023 was 10,399 and 8,608 have been carried out to date in 2024.
There were 208 DA payments stopped in 2023 due to means exceeding the statutory limit and 378 to date in 2024.
In 2023, there were 12,884 claims awarded for Disability Allowance and 12,474 awarded to the end of August 2024.
The total expenditure on DA in 2023 was €2.17 billion and to date in 2024 is €1.7 billion.
The projected outturn for 2024 is €2.4 billion and proposed budget for 2025 is also €2.4 billion
In 2025, the projected number of DA recipients is 166,550.
I hope this information is useful for the Deputy.
Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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532. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of reviews of carer’s allowance carried out in 2023 and 2024 to date; the number of people who had their payment removed in each year due to exceeding the income disregard; the number of additional carer’s allowance recipients who qualified in each year; the total spent on the allowance in 2023 and 2024 to date; the projected out-turn for 2024 and proposed budget for 2025; the number of recipients projected for next year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43101/24]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's Allowance 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.
The total number of reviews of Carer’s Allowance carried out in 2023 was 12,616 and 12,393 have been carried out to date in 2024.
There were 102 Carer's Allowance claims stopped in 2023 due to means exceeding the statutory limit and 97 to date in 2024.
In 2023, there were 17,333 claims awarded for Carer's Allowance and 11,047 awarded to the end of August 2024.
The total expenditure on Carer's Allowance in 2023 was €1.1 billion and to date in 2024 is €865.6 million.
The projected outturn for 2024 is €1.21 billion and proposed budget for 2025 is €1.24 billion.
In 2025, the projected number of Carer's Allowance recipients is 99,883.
I hope this information is useful for the Deputy.
Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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533. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if urgent consideration will be given to extending illness benefit to self-employed people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43103/24]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Illness benefit is the primary short term income support provided by my Department to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance.
Eligibility for illness benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. The person must have made the required number of contributions under class A, E, H or P to qualify. In general, self-employed people make PRSI contributions at Class S which does not provide entitlement to illness benefit.
Self-employed people pay contributions to the Social Insurance Fund at a lower rate of 4.1%. This is 11.15 percentage points lower than the combined employer and employee contribution of 15.25% made in respect of employed contributors. However, self-employed contributors do have access to over 90% of benefits available to employed contributors including;
- 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.
As a result, the only benefits that class S PRSI will not provide access to are health and safety benefit, illness benefit and occupational injuries benefits.
In circumstances where people are ill but do not qualify for illness benefit or invalidity pension, my Department provides means tested supports under the disability allowance scheme and the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. An additional needs payment may also be available to people who have expenses that they cannot pay from their weekly income.
My Department will continue to keep its range of supports under review to ensure that they meet their overall objectives. Any changes to the current system would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context, and in the context of social insurance contribution rates for self-employed contributors.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
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