asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state in respect of County Kerry (a) the number of persons in receipt of blind pensions, and (b) the number of blind persons who are not in receipt of any benefits; and if he will ask the local authority to evolve a scheme for the welfare of blind persons so that they may be cared for in reasonable comfort either in their own homes or elsewhere.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kerry Blind Pensions.
At the 28th December, 1955, the latest date for which such statistics are available, there were 526 persons in County Kerry in receipt of pensions, as blind persons, under the Old Age Pensions Acts. There are no data available as to the number of blind persons in the county who are not in receipt of any benefit. As regards the latter part of the Deputy's question the local authority already operates a scheme for the welfare of the blind, which provides for the payment of weekly cash allowances to blind persons living in their own homes or in lodgings and also for the maintenance of blind persons in approved institutions.