DSP Note: Payment Changes for CE Participants

Explanatory Note on Community Employment (Budget 2012)

1) Concurrent entitlement to Community Employment and another DSP payment

From 16th January 2012, NEW participants on CE will not be able to simultaneously claim another social welfare payment while on CE. This will affect NEW clients in receipt of:

• One Parent Family Payment
• Deserted Wife’s Benefit
• Widow(er)s Pension
• Illness Benefit
• Disability Allowance
• Invalidity Pension
• Blind Pension

 The definition of “new participant” is someone who has not participated on CE in the preceding 12 months.

New CE entrants will be disqualified from receiving any primary weekly social welfare payment including those listed above. The rate of CE payable to new entrants will be the personal rate, the €20 top-up, plus increases for qualified adults and children, if applicable. In other words, the affected new participants will be treated in exactly the same manner as jobseekers have been up to now, i.e., there is no entitlement to a jobseeker’s payment but a full CE rate is payable. 

EXISTING CE participants (those already on CE at 16/01/2012) who are in receipt of any of the above payments continue to receive their main DSP payment along with the CE payment until they exit CE.  The same applies to those existing participants “rolling over”, i.e. they retain the main DSP payment and CE payment. The maximum duration of this transition phase for existing CE participants is 3 years; therefore all CE participants in the above categories will be on a single main payment only by the end of 2014.

In addition, from 20^th February, the CE rate of payment for participants who are also on One-Parent Family Payment, Deserted Wife’s Benefit or Widower(er)’s Pension will be €208.  No increases for qualified children will be paid on their CE payments.  See section 2 below.

Fuel Allowance is payable on CE where a person has an underlying entitlement and where a primary welfare payment is not in payment.  Fuel allowance would be payable on CE to new participants (post January 16^th) provided they had an underlying  entitlement.

The issue of the possible entitlement to the Household Benefits Package is currently being clarified and a further instruction will issue on this shortly.

2) Payment of dual increases for a qualified child

Payment of two increases for each qualified child where the person is employed on a Community Employment scheme and in receipt of One Parent Family Payment, Deserted Wife’s Benefit or Widow(er)s Pension will cease for  EXISTING CE participants with effect from 20^th February 2012 CE will no longer be paying  increases for qualified children for any of the above categories.  Existing CE participants will continue to receive increases for qualified children from their main DSP payment.

The following table is for illustrative purposes showing the combination of OFP and CE payments per week, assuming no other income except CE. 

	Existing CE Participants on OFP			New Participants
No. of Children	2011 Payment s	2012 Payments	Difference	2012 Payments
1 Child	€415.60	€393.30	€22.30	€237.80
2 Children	€460.20	€423.10	€37.10	€267.60
3 Children	€504.80	€452.90	€51.90	€297.40
4 Children	€549.40	€482.70	€66.70	€327.20
Notes	Amount includes means assessed OFP, CE and OFP full-rate child increases and CE standard payment of €208.	Amount includes means assessed OFP, one full-rate child increase per child and CE standard payment of €208.		Amount includes main CE rate plus CE paid child dependant rates. OFP ceases.

(The removal of increases for qualified children from CE causes an increase in the main OFP payment due to less means being assessed. This lessens the overall reduction.  However, a lower means disregard is also applied as part of Budget 2012.

Deserted Wife’s Benefit and Widow(er)s Pension participant reductions are at the full €29.80 rate per child as the main DSP payment is not means-assessed, e.g. if claiming for one child the reduction in CE payment will be €29.80, €59.60 for two children etc.

1)      Jobseeker client payments (Benefit and Allowance categories) are unaffected by Budget 2012 changes as their Jobseeker payments cease on commencing Community Employment.

Jobseeker Allowance clients who received an actual payment (i.e. maximum entitlement less assessed means) of less than €188 per week (excluding Fuel Allowance), regardless of dependants, will only receive the CE standard payment of €208. JA clients who receive €188 or more per week (excluding Fuel Allowance) will receive the exact same rate as DSP plus the CE participation bonus of €20.

Jobseeker Benefit clients will receive the same rate as they received from DSP plus the CE participation bonus of €20. Adult dependants are subject to the tapered allowance rates where applicable and child dependants are paid at the full or half rate, as advised by DSP.

Summary of Changes at a Glance

DSP Payment Category	Existing CE Participants	New CE Participants
Jobseekers Allowance	No change	No change
Jobseekers Benefit	No change	No change
One Parent Family Payment	CE increase for a qualified child ceases. OFP to be adjusted upwards (due to less assessed means but taking account of new means disregard.)	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.
Deserted Wife’s Benefit	CE increase for a qualified child  ceases, where applicable.	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.
Widow(er)s Pension	No Change	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.
Disability Allowance	No Change	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.
Blind Pension	No Change	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.
Illness Benefit	No Change	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.
Invalidity Pension	No Change	DSP rate including dependants plus €20 all paid by CE. DSP payment ceases.

Date: 20^th January, 2012