asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he is aware that a person who is in receipt of home assistance and a disability allowance, and who is displaced from a condemned house and required to live in an institution maintained by the Dublin Health Authority, suffers as a consequence the cutting-off of his home assistance and disability allowance; and that as a result he has no income on which to live; and, if so, if he will take steps to remedy this situation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Withdrawal of Home Assistance and Disability Allowances.
23.
The Public Assistance Act, 1939, provides that home assistance shall be granted to every person who is eligible for general assistance and is not granted assistance in an institution. Accordingly, there is no statutory authority for the continuance of the payment of home assistance to a person who is admitted to an institution.
If the disability allowance to which the Deputy refers is intended to denote disability benefit under the Social Welfare Acts, the position is that while such benefit is not normally paid during the period of residence in an institution, advances for comforts or other necessary expenditure by the claimant, may be paid, at his request, during that period and the balance paid when the claimant leaves the institution.
If, as appears to be the case, the persons concerned receive full maintenance from the health authority, I do not see how a position such as that indicated in the latter part of the question could arise.