asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will amend the regulations relating to payment of maternity grants so that applicants will not be disqualified who have a confinement within a shorter period than that at present laid down to qualify for the ante-natal part of the grant.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Maternity Grants.
9.
Maternity allowance is a weekly payment for a period beginning with the sixth week before the end of the expected week of confinement and ending six weeks after the week in which the confinement occurs. The expected date of confinement is certified by the claimant's doctor and is the date which enables the date from which the allowance is payable to be established. It should be emphasised that the allowance is a weekly allowance and not a grant. Its purpose is to provide the expectant mother, who is working and who gives up her job, with a source of income for a period before and after her confinement. The period before confinement can only be determined by reference to the expected date certified by the claimant's doctor. The expected date and the actual date of confinement do not always coincide and for this reason the period over which the allowance is paid before confinement may vary. Accordingly the total period over which the allowance is paid may be less or more than 12 weeks depending on whether the actual date of confinement is before or after the expected date certified.
The particular purpose of the allowance must be borne in mind in considering the period over which it is paid and any one aspect of the matter cannot be taken in isolation. It is considered that the existing arrangements are equitable in relation to the contingency covered and it is not proposed to alter them.
Is the Minister aware that application is made at least eight weeks before the confinement——
May be made.
——or may be made? For instance, if the birth is due on the 20th of the particular month and it takes place four or five days before that date, is there not a deduction?
Yes.
Does the mother not lose one week of the confinement rate? I am trying to get the Minister to amend the regulations so that there will be no loss suffered. The Minister should consider that aspect.
There is occasionally a loss of a week or more, but the six weeks after are always paid. It is only fair to point out that sometimes there is more than six weeks paid in the case of a previous payment.
Is it not true to say that seven weeks are paid before the actual confinement and if, as I stated, the birth takes place within a week before the time specified, that week is deducted in the period after the confinement and there is a loss of a week's payment which I think is grossly unfair. Would the Minister be prepared to alter the regulation?
If you gain one way and lose the other you must have a certain amount of——
The Minister is being grossly unfair.
There is a variation as I pointed out in reply to the question which it is not possible to determine accurately. I am not a gynaecologist.
Has the Minister come across many cases in which people have lost money because of this?
We have very few, if any, complaints about this scheme.