asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether his attention has been drawn to a case in which the widowed mother of seven children was awarded a non-contributory widow's pension of 10/- per week, and when the Presbyterian Church Orphans' Society made a voluntary grant of £1 per week to assist the widow, the widow's pension was cut off; and whether he will take steps to ensure that voluntary payments of this kind will not operate to deprive a widow of her statutory pension.
Ceisteanna.—Questions. Oral Answers. - Widow's Pension.
My attention has been drawn to a case which it is understood is the one referred to in the question in which a widow with six children, four of whom were under the appointed age for the purpose of the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Acts, was awarded the maximum non-contributory pension payable in a rural area, namely, 10/- a week. Subsequently, when the pensioner was in receipt of a voluntary allowance of £1 a week, the pension was reconsidered and terminated as, after allowing for the statutory exemption of 9/- a week and an abatement of the voluntary allowance by 7/6 a week, the net weekly means including income from farm exceeded the amount of the pension otherwise payable. All non-contributory pension schemes are based on the test of necessity and accordingly all cash incomes from whatever source (subject to statutory exemptions) have to be taken into account. The pension referred to was a non-contributory one, that is to say, it was given subject to a test as to necessity. It was never intended that non-contributory pensions should be given to persons who are in receipt of incomes from other sources except to such extent as would comply with the statutory test of necessity. If voluntary allowances were to be excluded from the calculation of means in such cases the position would be entirely anomalous as the same rate of assistance would apply to many persons in different degrees of need.
Is it not clear that, if the Minister adheres to his position to treat voluntary contributions of the character described here as the voluntary grant of £1 per week, what will in fact happen is that such contributions will be abated by such sum as will reduce the means of the beneficiaries to the level which will permit of their continuing to receive the statutory non-contributory widow's pension and the net result will be that there will be no saving to the Exchequer but a material reduction in the poor persons' incomes? If the Minister agrees with me in that forecast of the development, will he not consider taking such steps as may be necessary to ensure that voluntary contributions of this kind are not regarded for the purpose of assessing a non-contributory widow's pension?
After eight years' experience of the operation of this Act, I am glad to say that there is no such tendency being manifested as Deputy Dillon suggests.
Is it not a fact that in one case in Donegal such an arrangement was contemplated and that on the intention to abate the pension allowance being communicated to the Minister, the Minister or one of his colleagues, waived the objection to that pension allowance as a source of income and ignored it for the purpose of assessing statutory pension?
In highly exceptional circumstances, an incident of the sort referred to by Deputy Dillon might occur, but then one swallow does not make a summer.
But one swallow leaves this widow short of 10/- a week which she ought to have.
Mr. A. Byrne
If an allowance such as is now mentioned in this case were converted into an allowance in kind by way of a voucher, would that be allowed? The Minister did state to Deputy Hickey about a year ago that allowances not of a statutory kind would not be taken into consideration when assessing old age pensions.
I should require notice of that question.
It is a very good suggestion.