Amendment of the Social Welfare Act passed the first reading in the Riigikogu
The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of two Bills and heard the Prime Minister’s replies to four interpellations.
Two Bills passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Social Welfare Act and the Income Tax Act (704 SE), initiated by the Government, will establish the regulation for funding the general care service provided outside the home of a person on a 24-hour basis from 1 July 2023.
Up to now, the recipient of the service and the people who maintain them have had to bear the main burden of the service. In the future, the public sector will begin to participate in the covering of the costs of the service. The local authority will cover the expenses of a qualified care worker from the cost of the service place of the person entitled to receive the service, and the recipient of the service will pay for the accommodation and catering costs and other costs related to the provision of the service.
With a view to mitigating the increasing obligation for local governments, the rate of the income tax received by local governments will be amended such that the income from state pension will also begin to be taken into account in the distribution of income tax from 1 January 2024. During the transition period in 2023 the funds earmarked for the measure will be distributed between local governments through the state budget support fund. The additional expenditure for the state budget is projected to total 40 million euro in 2023 and 57 million in 2024. This will enable local governments to develop services supporting living at home and to enhance the provision thereof.
During the debate, Margit Sutrop (Reform Party) and Aivar Kokk (Isamaa) took the floor.
The purpose of the Victim Support Bill (702 SE), initiated by the Government, is to improve the availability and quality of the victim support services provided to victims of violence, crime and cases of crisis and to make the system for the application for compensations to victims of crime more user-friendly
The Bill will provide for the general bases for the provision of victim support. They are absent from the current law, but in terms of the recovery of the victim, it is extremely important to consider the nature of the violence experienced by the victim as well as the victim’s primary needs, to prevent secondary victimisation, to ensure being heard, to involve the victim in all stages of assistance and to give information. With a view to ensuring legal clarity, the conditions for the provision of various services will be provided for. For the first time, the provision of psycho-social assistance, including in cases of crisis, crisis assistance in the case of sexual violence, the restorative justice services and supporting the work of perpetrators to stop violent behaviour are described in the Bill. The services intended for victims of trafficking in human beings and the services to victims of violence against women have also been specified.
Regarding the compensation paid to victims of crimes of violence, the aim is to make the compensation more available and the application more user-friendly. For this, the bases for calculating the compensation will be changed. Compared with the current Act, in the future, state benefits (the funeral benefit paid by local governments, survivor’s pension, work ability allowance) will not be deducted from compensations, working-age victims will not need to complete assessments of their work ability in the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund and there will be no need to submit expense receipts in certain cases.
The Bill will create the bases for the data exchange necessary for inter-agency and network working in the case of victims who need special treatment and protection, high-risk domestic violence victims as well as victims who go for example to a local authority with their concern. The aim is that victims in the most difficult situations should not actively seek assistance themselves.
Kert Kingo (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor during the debate.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas replied to four interpellations
The Prime Minister replied to the interpellations concerning Ukrainian refugees, the Chairman of the Management Board of the Estonian State Forest Management Centre, the nomination of the candidate to the European Court of Auditors and ensuring the functioning of businesses in the conditions of the energy crisis, submitted by members of the Riigikogu.
Before the beginning of the sitting, leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya made an address before the Riigikogu.
During the open microphone, Helmen Kütt and Mihhail Stalnuhhin took the floor.
The sitting ended at 11.06 p.m.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)
Riigikogu Press Service
Gunnar Paal,
+372 631 6351, +372 5190 2837
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