asked the Minister for Social Welfare when disability benefit will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Carlow.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
376.
The person concerned was paid disability benefit from 21 February 1983 to 18 February 1984. Payment ceased after that date as she had not the necessary 156 paid contributions since her entry into insurable employment to entitle her to payment in excess of 52 weeks. According to the records of the Department, she had only 115 contributions paid on her behalf since entry into insurance.
She cannot re-qualify for payment of benefit until she resumes employment and has at least thirteen weeks of insurable employment for which contributions at the appropriate rate have been paid.
377.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when disability benefit will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Carlow.
The person concerned claimed disability benefit from 25 January 1984, submitting a claim form to disability benefit only indicating that on that date she was unfit for work. However, medical evidence is necessary to establish the duration of incapacity before payment can be made. The claimant was requested to furnish medical evidence and on receipt of this, payment was issued to her on 29 February 1984, for the period from 28 January 1984, the fourth day of incapacity, to 9 February 1984.
She is currently paid to 22 February 1984, the date of the latest medical certificate received.
378.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when unemployment benefit will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Meath as he has been signing at Edenderry employment exchange since 24 January, 1984.
Inquiries were necessary to establish that the person concerned fulfilled the condition of being available for work before his entitlement to unemployment benefit from the date of his claim could be determined.
Following the completion of inquiries, his unemployment benefit claim was allowed at £34.80 weekly and pay-related benefit at £7.67 weekly. He is a postal applicant and arrangements have been made to issue him with an order for encashment at his local post office paying all arrears due to him this week. Further combined payments at £42.47 will be made as they become due.
379.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when an old age pension book will be forwarded to a person (details supplied) in County Cork who applied to be transferred from widows pension.
One of the conditions for receipt of an old age contributory pension requires the person concerned to have contributions paid at the ordinary rate in respect of at least 156 weeks of insurable employment since her entry into insurance. Her insurance record under the number supplied shows that she entered into employment which was insurable at the ordinary rate in 1975 and that contributions were paid in respect of only 38 weeks since that year. The contributions paid in respect of her previous employment were paid at a rate which provided cover for occupational injuries benefit only and are not reckonable for old age contributory pension purposes. She does not, therefore, qualify for old age contributory pension.
She is in receipt of a widow's contributory pension on her late husband's insurance record and this will continue to be paid to her.
380.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason the full rate of unemployment benefit is not paid to a person (details supplied) in County Wexford.
The person concerned is at present in receipt of the maximum rate of unemployment benefit payable to him as a single person at £34.80 weekly.
His entitlement to pay-related benefit with his flat rate unemployment benefit is governed by the amount of his reckonable earnings during the income tax period 6 April 1981 and 5 April 1982 and on that basis he is entitled to pay-related benefit at £13.60 weekly. Combined payments at £48.40 continue to be made to him as they become due. This is the maximum amount to which he is entitled.
381.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when a person (details supplied) in County Carlow will receive a result of his unemployment assistance claim as his application under the enterprise allowance scheme is being held up pending the outcome of this claim.
The person concerned claimed unemployment benefit from 28 November 1983, but he did not satisfy the contribution conditions until 2 January 1984, when a new benefit year commenced and payment of unemployment benefit was allowed at £74.85 weekly. His entitlement to unemployment assistance from 28 November 1983 to 31 December 1983 could not be determined until investigations by a social welfare officer about his means were completed. These inquiries were recently completed and he was assessed with means at £13.70 weekly derived from self-employment, capital and the capital value of land. He is accordingly entitled to unemployment assistance at £50.05 weekly being the maximum rate payable to him, £63.75, less £13.70 and arrangements have been made to pay all arrears of unemployment assistance due this week.
382.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when unemployment assistance will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Cork as he applied for it over seven weeks ago.
The entitlement of the person concerned to unemployment assistance cannot be determined until investigations about her means have been completed. It is, however, expected that the social welfare officer will complete the inquiries shortly, after which her means will be assessed and her entitlements to unemployment assistance will be determined accordingly.
383.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when a decision will be issued on an application for unemployment assistance from a person (details supplied) in County Galway.
The person concerned has been assessed with means at £45.15 weekly derived from the profit from his land and as this amount exceeds the maximum rate of unemployment assistance payable to him his claim was disallowed. He was notified of the disallowance of his unemployment assistance claim on 6 March 1984.
It is open to him to appeal the amount of means assessed against him. A form for this purpose may be obtained at his local office.
384.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a letter recently sent to doctors about irregularities in medical certification was sent to non-registered medical practitioners; and if not, the reason why it was not sent.
A letter dealing with the need for certifiers to adhere strictly to the guidelines laid down by the Department in the matter of certification was issued on 15 February 1984 to each medical practitioner who has signed an agreement for the purpose of issuing certificates of incapacity to insured persons under the disability benefit scheme. Only medical practitioners who are registered in the Medical Register of Ireland are approved for signing this agreement. The letter was not, therefore, issued to non-registered medical practitioners.
Certificates of incapacity for work are accepted from non-registered practitioners in a small number of cases depending on the circumstances. Because the number is small such certificates are subject to strict control in the Department.
385.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny has received no word to date regarding an invalidity pension for which he was interviewed four months ago.
The regulations provide that the claimant, apart from satisfying the contribution conditions, must be regarded as permanently incapable of work, in order to qualify for invalidity pension.
The person concerned was examined on 10 November 1983 by a medical referee who expressed the opinion that he was not permanently incapable of work and asked to have him referred again for a further examination in four months time. He was notified on 14 November 1983 that he was not qualified for invalidity pension.
Arrangements are being made to have him examined again by a medical referee on 15 March 1984. His entitlement to the pension will be reviewed in the light of the report of this examination.
386.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason unemployment benefit was refused to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny as he worked for six months until December 1983 in a firm (details supplied).
It is presumed that the Deputy's question refers to the entitlement of the person concerned to pay-related benefit as he is at present in receipt of flat-rate unemployment benefit at £74.85 weekly.
Entitlement to pay-related benefit with flat-rate unemployment benefit is subject to the conditions that the weekly sum of pay-related benefit, flat-rate unemployment benefit and income tax rebate may not exceed 85 per cent of the net average weekly earnings of a claimant. The 85 per cent applicable to the person concerned is £48.27 weekly, and as the amount of weekly flat-rate unemployment benefit payable to him exceeds this sum pay-related benefit is not payable in his case.
387.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when unemployment assistance will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny.
A claimant to unemployment benefit who is a landholder but does not satisfy the contribution condition of having 78 contributions paid in a three year period is not entitled to unemployment benefit if the income from his holding exceeds £2 daily.
The person concerned is a landholder and when he claimed unemployment benefit on 18 January 1984 inquiries were necessary to establish these facts. These inquiries were recently completed and because he does not satisfy either of these conditions, his claim to unemployment benefit was disallowed. He is, however, qualified for unemployment assistance at the rate of £22.40 weekly being the maximum rate of unemployment assistance payable to him, £76.55, less £54.15 means derived from the profit from his holding. He is a postal applicant and arrangements have been made to issue him with an order for encashment at his local post office, paying all arrears of unemployment assistance due to him this week. Further weekly payments will be made as they become due.
388.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a person (details supplied) in County Wexford who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is permanently in a wheelchair will be given a free electricity allowance.
The person concerned has been in receipt of a free electricity allowance since 1981. It has come to light that when he moved to his present address in 1983 the allowance for the May/June 1983 billing period was not applied to his account. Arrangements have now been made with the ESB to allow appropriate credit on his next ESB bill.
Consumption of electricity in this case is in excess of the number of units which are free of charge under the scheme and the person concerned must, therefore, pay for the excess.
389.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Galway who has been in receipt of free electricity rental for the past eight years and disability benefit for the past 13 years has now had his rental withdrawn; and if he will make immediate arrangements to have this benefit restored.
A free electricity allowance cannot be applied to the account of the person concerned as he no longer satisfies the conditions for entitlement to this benefit. The allowance which he had been receiving was terminated because his daughter, who is residing with him, ceased to be a person who comes within the excepted categories for satisfying the "living alone" condition of the scheme when she reached the age of 18 years.
390.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will expedite an appeal against the decision by his Department to refuse disability benefit to a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon.
The person concerned was disallowed payment of disability benefit from 22 January 1984 following examination by a medical referee who expressed the opinion that he was capable of work. He appealed against the disallowance and in connection with his appeal, arrangements were made to have him examined by a different medical referee on 6 March 1984. His entitlement to further payment of disability benefit will be reviewed in the light of the medical referee's report following this examination.
391.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when arrears of unemployment benefit will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Louth.
Entitlement to unemployment benefit is subject to the condition that an applicant must be fully available for work. The person concerned made a claim to unemployment benefit on 13 February 1984, stating that he was self-employed for three days each week, and inquiries were necessary to establish that he fulfilled the condition of being available for work on the remaining days of the week.
These inquiries are now complete and his claim has been allowed from 13 February 1984 at the daily rate of £5.80. Arrangements have been made for the payment of arrears this week and further payments will be made as they become due.
392.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when arrears of unemployment benefit will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Louth for the period his case was under investigation.
The application for unemployment assistance of the person concerned was disallowed for eight specified days in September, October and November 1982 on the grounds that he was not unemployed on those dates and, on and from 17 November 1982, on the grounds that he was not available for employment. He appealed against this decision and, following an oral hearing of his case on 4 March 1983, his appeal was disallowed.
Following further inquiries and in the light of new evidence, his application for unemployment assistance on and from 17 November 1982 was allowed. All arrears due from that date have been paid, less the amount of supplementary welfare allowance which he received pending a review of his case. The decision in relation to the eight specified days remains unaltered in the absence of new evidence.
Payments of unemployment assistance at £104.55 weekly, the maximum rate payable to him as a long term recipient of unemployment assistance, continue to be made to him as they become due.
393.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a death grant in respect of her husband will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and when it will be paid.
In order to qualify for payment, the late husband of the person concerned would have required a minimum average of 26 contributions over the period 1970 to 1981-82. According to the records of the Department, he has had no contributions since 1972. The person concerned does not therefore satisfy the contribution conditions for payment of a death grant.
394.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reasons unemployment benefit has not been paid to a person (details supplied) in County Galway despite the fact that he has been signing since December 1983; the weekly amount and the total amount of arrears that will be paid; the date on which he will be paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The entitlement of the person concerned to unemployment benefit could not be determined until inquiries to ascertain why he left his employment and if he fulfilled the condition of being available for and genuinely seeking work, were completed. These inquiries were recently completed and his claim was allowed and unemployment benefit was authorised at £34.80 weekly and pay-related benefit at £5.30 weekly.
Being a postal claimant, arrangements have been made to have a payable order for £287.50 in respect of all benefit due issued to him for encashment at his local post office this week.
Further payments of unemployment benefit and pay-related benefit at the combined weekly rate of £40.10 will continue as they become due.