asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention was drawn to comments made by a District Justice in the Dublin District Court on the 23rd March last regarding the refusal of home assistance to the wife of a man charged with neglecting her; whether he has had the case in question investigated; and, if so, whether he will indicate the result of the investigation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Home Assistance Case.
My attention was drawn to a newspaper report of the comments referred to by the Deputy, and I had inquiry made regarding the facts of the case.
There is no foundation for the suggestion in the statement attributed to the District Justice that home assistance was refused because the woman in question and her child were living with the woman's mother. The woman applied in December, 1948, for home assistance to her local assistance officer, who subsequently called to her home on three occasions to investigate her claim.
On two of these visits he was informed that the applicant was not available and on the third visit he was refused admittance to the house. Some time later she informed the assistance officer that she had received money from her husband, who was in England, and that she was obtaining employment; she withdrew her application for home assistance on the 4th January, 1949, and made no further approach in the matter. At the time of the court proceedings she was, and had been for some weeks, employed and had not renewed her application for home assistance.
The public assistance authority was in no way at fault in the matter. If this woman had not withdrawn her application, and provided she was not working, she would have been awarded home assistance in January, 1949.