asked the Minister for Health if he will state the average weekly cost to local authorities of maintenance, at subsistence level, of old age pensioners or other destitute persons in county homes for the years 1950 to 1956, inclusive.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Maintenance Cost in County Homes.
I do not accept the implication in the question that old age pensioners are destitute persons. Many of them have means other than their pensions and in any case if they satisfy certain conditions they are entitled to an income in the form of an old age pension, which places them outside the category of destitute persons who are normally regarded as being persons without means or without the expectation of means.
I am not clear as to what the Deputy means by maintenance at subsistence level. In any case, separate particulars are not available of the actual cost of maintenance of the different categories of persons, including old age pensioners, maintained in county homes.
The average weekly cost of the maintenance of all persons in County Homes according to returns furnished by health authorities for the years 1950/51 to 1955/56 was as follows:—
|
s. |
d. |
|
|
1950/51 |
18: |
6.88 |
|
1951/52 |
23: |
11.63 |
|
1952/53 |
25: |
2.82 |
|
1953/54 |
27: |
1.15 |
|
1954/55 |
24: |
3.41 |
|
1955/56 |
26: |
3.35 |
As regards these figures, I think it is reasonable to comment that in general the average cost of the maintenance of a pensioner in a county home would probably be higher than the cost of his maintenance as a member of the household of a typical working-class family.
Can the Minister indicate the proportion of the old age pension which is stopped by the local authority when an old person enters a county home?
I am afraid I should have to require notice of that question. After all, it touches a detail which one does not carry in one's mind.