Relate, September 2012
Housing issues
This includes the mortgage-to-rent scheme and the new Mortgage Arrears
Information Helpline.
Jobseeker’s Benefit and part-time work
The change to a five-day basis for payment.
Review of disability services
The report Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services has been
published. It relates to disability services that are financed by the Health Service
Executive (HSE).
Levy on insurance policies
What the levy on insurance policies means.
Legislation and policies on health and children
Restructuring of the HSE, protection of children and the National Carers’ Strategy.
Housing issues
Mortgage-to-rent scheme
The mortgage-to-rent scheme is designed for low-income families who have
unsustainable mortgages and very little likelihood of improving their position in the
near future. It allows people who are having trouble paying their mortgages to switch
from owning their home to renting their home as social housing tenants, as long as
they meet the eligibility criteria. This arrangement was recommended by the InterDepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears (generally known as the Keane
Report – see Relate, December 2011).
The house is bought by an approved housing body (such as a housing association)
and you pay rent to that housing body. (Originally, it was planned that there would be
two schemes but the proposed scheme involving local authorities has not gone
ahead.) The approved housing body buys the house with a loan from the original
mortgage lender (70-75%) and a loan from the Government (25-30%). Most of the
main lenders are involved in the scheme. Your rent is based on your income.
After the house is bought by the housing body, you may still owe money to your
original lender. There is no automatic forgiveness of this debt but you may be able to
negotiate with the lender that some or all of it would be forgiven. Alternatively, you
may be able to avail of one of the proposed new insolvency arrangements (see
Relate, August 2012).
A pilot scheme has been in operation since early 2012 and the scheme is now
available all over the State. Just over 60 homes are in the scheme at present and it
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is expected that there will be about 100 in the full year 2012. The scheme is
expected to operate for three years and will then be reviewed.
In order to avail of this scheme, you must meet a number of conditions:
 Your mortgage must have been deemed unsustainable under your lender’s
Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP)
 You must not have significant positive equity in the property
 The maximum value of the property must be €220,000 in the Dublin region
and €180,000 in other parts of the State
 You must not own any other property or have assets in excess of €20,000
 The property must be in good condition, be in a suitable location and
appropriate to your housing needs (you could be considered to be overaccommodated if the property is large or the property may be considered
overcrowded)
 You must be eligible for social housing (see below)
 You must agree to the voluntary repossession of your home
Eligibility for social housing
Your eligibility for social housing is based on a housing needs assessment. The main
consideration for people who want to avail of the mortgage-to-rent scheme is the
means test. Three income thresholds apply in different counties, as follows:
 €35,000 threshold applies in all the four Dublin area councils, in Cork city,
Galway city, and in Meath, Kildare and Wicklow
 €30,000 threshold applies in Limerick city and county, Waterford city, Cork
county, all of Kerry, Kilkenny, Louth, and Wexford
 €25,000 threshold applies in all other places
The income threshold is the maximum net income for a single-person household. It
is increased if there are other adults and/or children in the household – by 5% for
each adult subject to a maximum of 10% and by 2.5% for each child subject to a
maximum of 10%. Therefore, if you are a single-person household and you live in
Dublin, you may be eligible for social housing support if your net income is less than
€35,000; if you are a couple with two children, you may apply if your income is less
than €38,500.
The maximum income limit is €42,000 which would apply to a household with three
or more adults and four or more children. The maximum income limits for the other
thresholds are €36,000 and €30,000.
Net household income is defined as gross income of all kinds, including virtually all
social welfare payments, less tax, PRSI and the Universal Social Charge. Child
Benefit is disregarded, as well as most temporary income.
Further information is available on: housing.ie.
Social Housing Leasing Initiative
The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has agreed to provide up to 2,000
social housing units in 2012. In general, these are being provided through the Social
Housing Leasing Initiative. So far, about 1,200 units are being processed under the
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scheme. This scheme involves local authorities leasing properties from the private
sector and using those properties to provide housing for people on the local authority
waiting lists. The local authority leases the property for between 10 and 20 years and
manages and maintains it while it is being used under the scheme.
NAMA Deferred Payment Initiative
NAMA has also launched a Deferred Payment Initiative on a pilot basis. This aims to
provide home buyers with a level of protection against a fall in residential property
prices from current levels over the next five years. A small number of designated
properties can be bought under the Initiative.
In order to avail of this Initiative, you must first get mortgage approval from an
approved mortgage provider. You pay 80% of the value of the property initially. If the
value of the property has fallen after five years, the remaining 20% is reduced
accordingly. If the value has not reduced, you pay the remaining 20%. Further
information is available from nama.ie.
Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012
This Bill has been published but not yet discussed by the Oireachtas. The Bill
proposes to:
 Regulate many tenancies in the voluntary and cooperative housing sector in
the same way as private rented tenancies
 Change the name of the regulatory board from the Private Residential
Tenancies Board (PRTB), to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB)
 Give formal effect to the merger of the Rent Tribunal with the Residential
Tenancies Board (the Rent Tribunal is the body that deals with formerly rentcontrolled tenancies)
 Reduce the Board from 15 to 12 members
 Introduce measures to increase the take-up of mediation as a dispute
resolution mechanism
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to create a deposit
protection scheme to address the issue of illegal retention of tenants’ deposits. The
Bill as published does not deal with this but the Minister for Housing and Planning
has said that this will be addressed at Committee Stage, by which time research on
the issue will have been completed by the PRTB. The Minister has also said that she
intends to address the issue of non-payment of rent by tenants who remain in
possession.
Mortgage Arrears Information Helpline
The Citizens Information Board has established a Mortgage Arrears Information
Helpline to provide information and signposting in relation to the Central Bank’s
Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and the supports available for those
homeowners in mortgage arrears or pre-arrears. The Helpline is being promoted in
conjunction with the keepingyourhome.ie website – designated by the Government
as the key online resource for general mortgage arrears information.
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The Helpline offers independent, confidential and high-quality information to
borrowers in mortgage arrears or at pre-arrears stage. It is for callers with mortgages
on their own home only. It is targeted at people who have not so far taken any action
to address their difficulties, for example, by approaching the lender.
The Helpline provides information to mortgage holders on:
 Existing mortgage solutions/alternative repayment arrangements
 The availability of relevant State supports and the relevant documentation
required
 Dedicated arrears contact points of mortgage lenders
 A lender’s appeal process (or it can direct you to where this information is
located)
 The right to appeal a lender’s decision to the Financial Services Ombudsman
The Mortgage Arrears Information Helpline is 0761 07 4050. The service is available
from Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5pm.
Implementation of Disability Housing Strategy
The National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2011–2016 was described
in Relate, March 2012. The National Implementation Framework to support this
strategy has now been published. This sets out a range of priority actions to support
people with disabilities to live in communities as independently as possible – this
includes people already living in the community who need supports and people who
could be moved from institutional care if the supports were available in the
community. The Implementation Framework takes account of the mental health
policy reports (A Vision for Change and the Report of the Congregated Settings
Working Group) in relation to the phased movement, over the next 7 years, of almost
5,000 people with intellectual, physical and mental health disabilities from institutions
to community living.
The Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency will have a key role in
overseeing this process. Website: environ.ie.
Jobseeker’s Benefit and part-time work
From 26 July 2012, the social welfare week for the purposes of payment of
Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) has been changed from a six-day week to a five-day week.
This change affects you if you are working part-time involuntarily and if you get
casual work and are getting JB. It means that you get paid less JB for your days of
unemployment.
This change does not affect you at all if you:



Are getting Jobseeker’s Allowance
Are fully unemployed and entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit
Are a systematic short-time worker – the five-day week arrangements already
apply to you so there is no change in your payment
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
Work only on Sundays but do not work on any other day – you are regarded
as fully unemployed and may qualify for the full rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit
What the change means
The current maximum rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit is €188 a week. If you were
eligible for this rate and were working some days, you would have received €31.33 a
day for each day of unemployment prior to 26 July 2012. The minimum payment
would have been €94 for three days of unemployment. From 26 July 2012, you get
€25.66 a day for each day of unemployment. That is €75.20 for three days of
unemployment; €112.80 for four days and €150.40 for five days. The rates for
increases in respect of qualified adults and children are also reduced in a similar
manner.
Not qualified for Jobseeker’s Benefit
In order to qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit, you must meet a number of conditions.
One condition is that you must be unemployed for three days in a period of six days
– this condition remains unchanged. So, if you work four or more days a week, you
cannot qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit. If you work three days a week or less, you
may qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit provided, of course, that you meet all the other
conditions. The other conditions include being available for and seeking full-time
work. If you choose to work part-time, for example, if you job-share each week or on
a week-on/week-off basis, and are not available for full-time work, then you do not
qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit at all.
If you work part-time but this involves working every day, you are regarded as fully
employed and are not eligible for Jobseeker’s Benefit at all. More information is on
welfare.ie.
Review of disability services
The report on The Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in
Ireland has been published. The background and scope of the review were
described in Relate, March 2012.
The main objectives of the review were to:
 Examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the disability services funded by
the HSE through its Disability Services Programme
 Deliver a comprehensive analysis of data in relation to the services and
service providers and
 Review current policy objectives and provide policy objectives for further
service provision
The services are provided directly by the HSE or by non-statutory service providers
who have service level agreements (SLAs) with the HSE or get grants from the HSE.
The review was conducted in the context of increasing demand for disability services
because of increased population and the need to provide services at an affordable
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price. People with disabilities are looking for more control over the services provided
and more flexible services to meet their particular needs.
The review provides detailed information on how the funding is used but there were
gaps in the information available because of the different ways in which the various
service providers maintained their records. As a result, it was difficult to assess and
compare the efficiency and effectiveness of various services. There was not enough
information available on the costs, quality or outcomes of the different services.
There is no national standard methodology for assessing the needs of people with
disabilities or for linking those needs with target outcomes. Similarly, there is no
nationally agreed means of predicting the amount of resources that an individual is
likely to require; nor is there any common method of calculating the amount of
resources that an individual actually consumes and the cost of those resources.
There are no national indicators to objectively measure the effectiveness of the
Disability Services Programme in promoting personal progression, community
inclusion or application of choice, control and independence.
Person-centred services
The main recommendation of the review is that there should be a change from the
current arrangements, which are largely centred on block grants for the provision of
group-based services, to arrangements that are based on the needs and wishes of
individuals. This should be underpinned by a more effective method of assessing
need, allocating resources and monitoring the use of those resources.
Implementation
It is intended to start the implementation of the review’s recommendations
immediately. The Minister with responsibility for disability has said that the actions
recommended in the review will lay the groundwork for a system of individualised
budgeting, once sufficient analysis of the benefits is carried out in the Irish context
and adequate financial management, resource allocation and governance structures
are in place to ensure its long-term viability. No new resources will be available. It is
expected that the implementation of the review will result in savings.
The following are among the recommendations whose implementation is being given
priority.
Strengthen the disability function within the Health Service Executive
The review recommends that the national disability function within the HSE should
be strengthened and given a central role in funding, shaping and driving the
Disability Services Programme. At present, the National Disability Unit of the HSE
has lead responsibility for the planning, monitoring and evaluation of the Disability
Services Programme nationally. It has no authority over resource allocation or
operational service delivery, which lie with the Regional Directors of Operations and
the Integrated Service Area Managers.
Other recommendations are to:
 Streamline the service level agreement process so that better information is
available to the HSE and monitoring of service provision is facilitated
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Put in place a unique identifier for those seeking or receiving services,
consistent with plans for a wider health sector identifier, to facilitate individual
needs assessment, person‐centred planning and individualised budgeting
Standardise financial reporting to ensure that allocations and expenditure can
be tracked, analysed and compared at national, regional and local levels
Audit the staffing arrangements of the service providers
Movement towards person-centred approach
The review recommends initiating demonstration projects to begin the process
towards a person-centred approach.
Resource allocation model
The review recommends that a national resource allocation model be developed in
order to ensure best use of existing resources and provide the groundwork for
individualised budgeting. This model would be based on:
 A standardised and appropriate assessment-of-need process
 A methodology for associating standard costs with assessed needs and
 Transparent protocols for determining the basis for allocating resources
The review recognises that since not all needs can be met by the HSE, the protocols
for prioritising need and deciding which needs are met and which are not should be
transparent, fair and equitable.
Information requirements
The information requirements for the effective management of the Disability Services
Programme should be established. Data on outcomes and performance indicators
should be collected and aggregated at regional and national levels to allow effective
monitoring of performance.
National quality framework
The review recommends that guidelines for a national quality framework should be
established to address standards, inspection or audit, quality assurance,
person‐centred planning and outcome measurement. (It is expected that the Health
Information and Quality Authority’s National Quality Standards: Residential Settings
will be put on a statutory basis in 2013 but such standards are required for all
services.)
The full report is available at: dohc.ie.
Levy on insurance policies
When you take out or renew an insurance policy, for example, on your property or
car, you have to pay what is usually described on your policy as a Government levy.
Since January 2012, there are, in fact, two separate charges:
 2% levy payable to the Insurance Compensation Fund
 3% stamp duty
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They are collected together by the Revenue Commissioners from the insurance
companies. The liability for both charges rests with the insurance companies but
they in turn pass on the charges to customers.
The Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF)
The Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) operates under the Insurance Act 1964 as
amended by the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2011 (see Relate, February 2012). The
aim of the fund is to protect policy holders if an insurance company goes into:
 Liquidation – ceases to trade and has its assets wound up or
 Administration – continues to trade under the protection and direction of the
courts
The Central Bank carries out an annual assessment of the financial position of the
fund and decides what the appropriate contribution from the insurance companies
should be – the law provides that this can be a maximum of 2% of the total relevant
premiums. If the fund is not adequate to meet the demands made on it, the Central
Bank advises the Government to advance money for the fund. So far this year, the
Government has advanced over €700 million to the fund. This will be recouped from
the fund as the proceeds of the levy are collected.
The fund is controlled by the President of the High Court. The High Court may
authorise payments from the fund to the liquidators or administrators of the
insurance company to enable them to cover policies issued by the company. There
are limits on the amount that may be paid to individual policy-holders if the company
is in liquidation. The present levy is to meet the requirements arising from a company
that is in administration.
The 2% levy
While the direct payments to the fund are made by the insurance companies, the
costs involved are passed on to the policy-holders. The current 2% levy for the
Insurance Compensation Fund has been charged since 1 January 2012. (A 2% levy
for the Compensation Fund was first applied in 1984 when there were two insurance
companies in financial difficulties. That levy was phased out in the early 1990s.)
The levy is charged on all non-life insurance premiums paid to insurance companies
that are regulated by Ireland or any other EU member state in respect of risks in
Ireland. These are mainly home, motor and commercial insurance premiums. The
insurance companies pay the levy to the Revenue Commissioners, who then pay it
into the Insurance Compensation Fund. It does not apply to health insurance.
The levy is expected to yield €65 million in 2012. It is expected that the fund will start
repaying the Government for the contribution it has made to it (plus interest) in 2014
when the levy begins to accumulate. The repayments to the Government will
continue until the amount advanced has been repaid.
Stamp duty on insurance premiums
Separately, there is a 3% stamp duty chargeable on certain non-life insurance
premiums. Since the 1990s, stamp duty has been charged – originally at 2% and
then increased to 3% from 8 April 2009. This stamp duty does not apply to re8
insurance, health insurance, marine, aviation and transit insurance, export credit
insurance and certain dental insurance contracts. Like all stamp duties, this is a tax
and is paid to the Revenue Commissioners by the insurance companies, who collect
it from the policy-holders.
Other charges on insurance/assurance policies
Stamp duty on life assurance premiums
Stamp duty of 1% is charged on life assurance premiums. Again, it is paid to the
Revenue Commissioners by the assurance companies who collect it from the policyholders.
Levy on health insurers
A totally separate levy must also be paid by the main health insurance companies.
They must pay an annual community rating levy of €285 for each insured adult and
€95 for each insured child. This does not apply to the smaller employment-related
health insurance companies. The companies then decide whether or not to pass on
this levy to their customers.
Further information on these charges is available from centralbank.ie
and revenue.ie.
Legislation and policies on health and children
There are proposals for changes to the current structure of the HSE and for the
establishment of a separate agency to provide children’s services. There is also new
legislation on child protection.
Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012
This Bill has been published but has not yet been discussed in the Oireachtas. The
Bill proposes to replace the board of the HSE by a directorate and to give the
Minister for Health more power to direct the activities of the HSE.
The HSE was established under the Health Act 2004. Under the Bill, the HSE will
continue to exist and will continue to be responsible for the organisation and delivery
of health services. At present it is governed by a board. Under this Bill, it will be
governed by a directorate rather than a board. The Director General (the chairman of
the directorate) will be responsible to the Minister for Health. The directorate will
consist of a Director General and between two and six other directors. The directors
will all be employees of the HSE. It is intended that there will be directors of
hospitals, primary care, mental health, social care, health and wellbeing and
children’s services. This is intended as an interim arrangement pending further
changes in the governance of the health services and the implementation of
separate plans for the delivery of children’s services.
The Bill provides that the Minister may issue written directions to the HSE in respect
of any of its functions. The Minister may specify the priorities which the HSE must
consider when it is drawing up its service plan and may also specify the performance
targets in respect of these priorities. The Minister will not have the power to decide
priorities or targets in respect of individual patients or service users.
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Child and Family Support Agency
The Report of the Task Force on the Child and Family Support Agency has been
published.
It is intended to establish a separate Child and Family Support Agency that will take
over child welfare and protection functions from the HSE. The proposed new agency
will also include the existing Family Support Agency that funds 106 family resource
centres and provides grants to counselling services. It has a budget of €26.5 million
in 2012.
This report recommends that the proposed new agency would provide
comprehensive child services. As well as child welfare and protection services, the
agency should also provide primary prevention, early intervention, family support and
therapeutic and care interventions. This would mean that the agency would provide
public health nursing, speech and language therapy, psychological services, family
support services (both universal for all families and targeted for families in need of
more intensive support), accessible mental health services and education and
welfare services. The new agency should be separate from the Department of
Children and Youth Affairs and be governed by a Board.
While the Government has decided to establish a Child and Family Support Agency,
it has not yet decided precisely what arrangements will be put in place for the
governance of the new agency or what range of services it will provide directly. It is
expected that the new agency will be in place in 2013. Website: dcya.gov.ie.
Standards
The National Standards for the Welfare and Protection of Children have been
published by the Health Information and Quality Authority. These standards apply to
the HSE’s children and family services and will apply to the new Child and Family
Support Agency when it is established. Website: hiqa.ie.
National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012
This Bill proposes to make it mandatory for people working with children or
vulnerable adults to be vetted by the Gardaí. The Bill has yet to be discussed by the
Oireachtas.
At present, the Central Vetting Unit of the Garda Síochána provides a vetting service
for public service employers (for example, the HSE, hospitals, schools) and for
certain bodies working with children or vulnerable adults, for example, bodies
providing services to children or sports organisations. This means that the Gardaí tell
the relevant organisation if there has been any criminal prosecution against the
person, whether that prosecution resulted in conviction or not and whether the
person has any criminal convictions. The Bill proposes to put this vetting service on a
statutory basis.
The Bill sets out the employments that will require vetting – these are mainly the
employments to which the current vetting arrangements apply. Certain private
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arrangements such as babysitting, private tuition or other private contracts will not
require compulsory vetting.
The decision on whether or not to employ a particular person remains with the
prospective employer and not with the Gardaí.
Soft or specified information
The Bill also proposes to allow for the provision of soft information about people. Soft
information is the term that is generally used to describe suspicions or allegations of
criminal activity against children where the person concerned has not been charged
with or convicted of a crime. Such information is not currently provided as part of the
vetting process.
The Bill proposes that such information could be provided as part of the vetting
process in cases of employment that involves regular or on-going contact with or
access to children or vulnerable adults. The Bill uses the term specified information
and defines it as information in respect of a person that is of such a nature as to
reasonably give rise to a concern that the person may harm a child or vulnerable
person.
The Bill also provides that certain organisations will be obliged to provide specified
information to the Gardaí. These organisations include the HSE, the Mental Health
Commission, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the National
Transport Authority and the regulatory bodies for teachers, the medical professions
and the health and social care professions.
If specified information is disclosed, the person concerned must be given an
opportunity to challenge it. There will be an independent appeals mechanism if that
person is not satisfied with the decision to disclose the information.
Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against
Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012
This Act provides that it is an offence to withhold information on serious offences
where those offences are committed against a child or a vulnerable adult unless
there is a reasonable excuse for withholding the information. The offences
concerned are those that carry a penalty of at least five years’ imprisonment. They
include most sexual offences and offences such as murder, manslaughter,
abduction, serious assaults and cruelty to a child. It was already an offence to
withhold information about serious offences other than sexual offences. This new law
does not make it an offence to withhold information about sexual offences against
competent adults. The effect of the new law is that, in general, if you become aware
that such an offence has been committed, you have an obligation to report it and you
are committing an offence if you do not do so. The Act came into effect on 1 August
2012 and will apply to information that you obtain after it comes into effect. The
offence may have been committed before the Act came into effect – it is the date on
which you became aware of the offence that is relevant.
There are a number of circumstances in which you are not obliged to report such an
offence. It should be noted that you may still report it but you will not be committing
an offence if you do not.
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It is not an offence for the victim of the offence to withhold information about it.
Certain people providing support services to victims are also not required to report.
If the victim asks you not to report the offence, you do not commit an offence by not
reporting it. In general, if the victim does not have the capacity to either report an
offence or make a decision to ask someone else to report it, then a request by a
parent or guardian not to report it means that you are not obliged to report it. This,
however, is subject to a number of conditions. For example, it does not apply if the
alleged offender is a family member and the parent or guardian must have
reasonable grounds for making this decision on behalf of the victim and must be
acting in the victim’s best interests.
All children under the age of 14 are assumed not to have capacity in this context –
that does not prevent children under 14 reporting an offence. You may still report the
offence if you wish but you do not commit an offence if you decide not to report
because you have been requested not to do so by the parents/guardians. (The age
of 14 was chosen because that is the age at which young people are legally
competent to give evidence in criminal proceedings.)
Healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, social workers and psychologists) who
are providing services to a child or vulnerable person in respect of the harm or injury
caused by the offence may make it known that, in their view, the information relating
to that offence should not be disclosed, provided that they can show that they are
acting in the best interests of the health and well-being of the victim. Under the
Children First guidelines that are expected to be put on a statutory basis soon,
healthcare professionals are obliged to report such offences to the HSE.
National Carers’ Strategy
The National Carers’ Strategy has been published. The strategy focuses on carers in
the community and does not cover paid care workers or volunteers in voluntary
organisations.
The strategy sets four national goals for carers:
 Recognise the value and contribution of carers and promote their inclusion in
decisions relating to the person for whom they are caring
 Support carers to manage their own physical, mental and emotional health
and well-being
 Support carers to care with confidence through the provision of adequate
information, training, services and supports
 Empower carers to participate as fully as possible in economic and social life
Pending changes in the organisation and delivery of health services, the strategy
sets out a series of actions to be taken in the short and medium term. These are
cost-neutral as far as possible. The strategy recognises that additional services and
supports for carers cannot be guaranteed in the near future. Further information is
available at dohc.ie.
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