asked the Minister for Finance with reference to his reply to Deputy Jim Mitchell's parliamentary question on Wednesday, 20 May 1987, if he is now in a position to state whether one single means test arrangement could be put in place for use by all State Departments and agencies and local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Means Testing.
23.
I am most concerned that every effort should be made to ensure that any inconvenience to members of the public or any possible administrative inefficiency arising out of unnecessary duplication of means testing should be eliminated.
I would refer the Deputy to the replies given by the Minister for Health and Social Welfare to recent Parliamentary Questions (Official Report for 30 April 1987 — column 797 and for 20 May 1987 — column 2451) where it is indicated that officials of their two Departments and the health boards are already considering, jointly, the extent to which co-ordination of means testing between the Health Boards and the Department of Social Welfare can be undertaken. I am exploring with those two Ministers and the Minister for the Environment the possibility of extending the scope of those discussions to include consideration of means-tested services provided by local authorities. Such an extension would bring almost all means-tested social services within the ambit of these discussions.
The discussions which are now in train cover a very wide variety of schemes all with differing objectives and with differing criteria for the assessment of means under present arrangements. If it proves possible to rationalise arrangements in those areas, consideration can then be given to their extension on a wider basis.