asked the Minister for Social Welfare if there are any plans to implement a scheme providing for free optical and dental benefits for mothers; if the cost of providing this has been estimated; if so, if she will inform the House of the estimated cost of providing optical benefit and dental benefit for mothers; and if she is aware of the serious disquiet and in many cases the financial hardship of those women who have given up their jobs to take care of their children but are not provided with these benefits.
Written Answers. - Optical and Dental Benefits for Mothers.
79.
The question of extending the treatment benefit scheme covering optical and dental benefits to the wives of insured persons has been under consideration for a number of years. A step towards that objective was taken by this Government in July 1985 when the benefits were extended to pregnant wives of insured persons. I am very conscious of the position of women with family responsibilities who work in the home and I would hope that it would be possible to extend the scheme to all spouses of insured persons. The main difficulty in this regard is the level of financial resources which would be involved. It is estimated that the cost would be between £6 million and £7 million per year.