clearer guidelines for GPs in providing supporting information and more consistency amongst Deciding Officers, Medical Examiners and the Social Welfare Appeals Office in the cases of reviews and appeals. Low income self employed people The recent extension of treatment benefits and Invalidity Pension to the self-employed has been positively received by staff in information services who are supporting self-employed clients, but it remains that a lack of knowledge and understanding of the social insurance system continues to be a key issue for many low income self-employed people who approach information services seeking support in times of crisis such as illness, disability or business failure. This, in addition to the means test requirements for Jobseekers Allowance (and for Basic SWA), their exclusion from participation on activation schemes (if they do not qualify for jobseeker’s payments), the Working Family Payment and from short-term illness supports continues to be the focus of much of the concerns highlighted by information staff. In this regard, CIB looks forward to the conclusions of the DEASP working group on extending social insurance coverage to the self-employed. Pensions For many people, understanding how to plan for (and access) their pension will be a major decision in their lives and reports from CISs indicate that they are supporting a significant number of people to make informed decisions about their pensions - last year services addressed some 54,000 queries regarding pension entitlements (specifically Contributory, Non-Contributory, EU contributions and UK pensions). Feedback on pensions over the past number of years indicates that there is a lack of knowledge (and a good degree of confusion) amongst many soon-to-retire people around their entitlements. During 2017 in particular, staff within information services also expressed concerns about the difficulties caused by changed administrative procedures regarding accessing PRSI Contribution Statements, the absence of a pension forecasting facility from DEASP, confusion and concern about changing pension rules (with the anticipated move to the Total Contributions Approach in 2020) and the ongoing financial cost, to some, of the 2012 changes in eligibility criteria. There are continuing reports of how these complications are serving to disproportionately affect women who took time out of paid work to care in the home at various intervals in their working lives. Fuel Poverty The changes made with regard to the payment of the Fuel Allowance during 2017-2018 (that is, the introduction of the option to receive the payment in two lump sums and the extension of the payment
clearer guidelines for GPs in providing supporting information and more consistency amongst Deciding Officers, Medical Examiners and the Social Welfare Appeals Office in the cases of reviews and appeals. Low income self employed people The recent extension of treatment benefits and Invalidity Pension to the self-employed has been positively received by staff in information services who are supporting self-employed clients, but it remains that a lack of knowledge and understanding of the social insurance system continues to be a key issue for many low income self-employed people who approach information services seeking support in times of crisis such as illness, disability or business failure. This, in addition to the means test requirements for Jobseekers Allowance (and for Basic SWA), their exclusion from participation on activation schemes (if they do not qualify for jobseeker’s payments), the Working Family Payment and from short-term illness supports continues to be the focus of much of the concerns highlighted by information staff. In this regard, CIB looks forward to the conclusions of the DEASP working group on extending social insurance coverage to the self-employed. Pensions For many people, understanding how to plan for (and access) their pension will be a major decision in their lives and reports from CISs indicate that they are supporting a significant number of people to make informed decisions about their pensions - last year services addressed some 54,000 queries regarding pension entitlements (specifically Contributory, Non-Contributory, EU contributions and UK pensions). Feedback on pensions over the past number of years indicates that there is a lack of knowledge (and a good degree of confusion) amongst many soon-to-retire people around their entitlements. During 2017 in particular, staff within information services also expressed concerns about the difficulties caused by changed administrative procedures regarding accessing PRSI Contribution Statements, the absence of a pension forecasting facility from DEASP, confusion and concern about changing pension rules (with the anticipated move to the Total Contributions Approach in 2020) and the ongoing financial cost, to some, of the 2012 changes in eligibility criteria. There are continuing reports of how these complications are serving to disproportionately affect women who took time out of paid work to care in the home at various intervals in their working lives. Fuel Poverty The changes made with regard to the payment of the Fuel Allowance during 2017-2018 (that is, the introduction of the option to receive the payment in two lump sums and the extension of the payment
social_prebudget_2019.docx