asked the Minister for Health if he will state in respect of each of the Counties Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon and Galway: (i) the number of applications for maternity cash grants, under the Health Act, 1953, which have been received since 1st January, 1954, and (ii) the number of such applications which have been approved.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Maternity Cash Grants.
According to the latest figures available in my Department which relate to the period from the 1st January, 1954, to the 30th September, 1954, (i) the number of applications for maternity cash grants, under the Health Act, 1953, were: Mayo, 1,063; Sligo, 434; Roscommon, 554; and Galway, 1,429; and (ii) the number of such applications approved were: Mayo, 677; Sligo, 394; Roscommon, 390; and Galway, 926.
asked the Minister for Health if he will prescribe a scale of income groups to whom the maternity cash grant payable under the Health Act, 1953, will apply.
The maternity cash grant is payable by the appropriate local authority under Section 23 of the Health Act, 1953, to women in the lower income group who are entitled to the services made available under Section 14 of the Act, i.e., women who are, or who are the dependents of, persons unable to provide by their own industry or other lawful means the medical or surgical treatment necessary for themselves or their dependents.
The Minister is not authorised, under the Health Acts or otherwise, to prescribe a scale of income for the purpose of determining eligibility for the grant. Eligibility is a matter entirely for the local authority having regard to the circumstances of the individual applicant.
May I ask if the Minister is aware that great dissatisfaction exists in regard to the present system of deciding eligibility for maternity grants on the basis of family means during the week of confinement? Further might I ask the Minister is he prepared to make representations to the local authorities to see that cognisance is taken of periods of unemployment recent to the date of application as far as the bread-winner is concerned?
The Deputy can rest assured that I shall do everything possible to counter the obvious defects in the Health Act of 1953.
Further arising out of the reply, I wonder would the Minister make available particulars of the different schemes adopted by local authorities in the administration of these grants? Each local authority has a scheme of its own apparently and it would be helpful to Deputies to know how the different schemes are operated in relation to the means test.
In reply to that supplementary question, the position is that under the law no local authority has any right to deal with the payment of these cash grants or to provide for services under the Health Act on any rule of thumb or any scale. In fact, in a circular of 27th April, 1954, sent out at the direction of my predecessor it was suggested to local authorities that the scale adopted by the county manager in Westmeath might be a useful guide in the administration of these services elsewhere in the country. Following that circular, apparently, the local authorities did adopt such a scale. I am satisfied that a rigid adherence to such scales works injustice in many respects and I have, accordingly, taken steps to ensure that local authorities will regard all these cases in accordance with the individual merits of each case and not otherwise.