asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will account for the drop of over 1,000 in the average number of people in receipt of home assistance in the first nine months of 1971 as against the same period the previous year; and if this indicates any change of policy on the part of health authorities or his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Home Assistance Recipients.
34.
It would, I feel, be wrong to attach too much significance to fluctuations in the average numbers of persons in receipt of home assistance from one year to another, since these are a normal feature of the scheme. However, improvements in the social services, such as, for example, the introduction of the deserted wife's allowance and the prescribed relative allowance for certain pensioners, will undoubtedly have been a factor in bringing about the drop in numbers referred to by the Deputy. There have been no changes influencing entitlement to home assistance apart from the continuing policy of effecting improvements in the social services as the available resources permit.