asked the Minister for Social Welfare if all arrears of disability benefit have been paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
73.
When payment of disability benefit was being restored to the person concerned from 16 August 1988, due to an oversight, only disability benefit was paid. Pay-related benefit was omitted in error, but all moneys due to the person concerned have now been issued. Any inconvenience caused to the person concerned is regretted.
75.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will have disability benefit restored to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12 who had it discontinued to him and is now in receipt of unemployment benefit, but must soon attend hospital for treatment and has appealed the decision to remove him from disability benefit; if he will ensure that the nine weeks' payments of disability benefit which were discontinued will be paid to him; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The person concerned was in receipt of disability benefit up to 21 June 1988. Payment was suspended from that date for the statutory period of nine weeks as he had failed, without good reason, to attend for examination by a medical referee of the Department on 13 June 1988. The claimant's explanation for his failure to attend was not accepted as adequate and so the decision to suspend payment for the nine weeks must stand.
Payment of disability benefit to the person concerned was resumed from 23 August 1988 but was further disallowed from 7 October 1988 following examination by a medical referee who expressed the opinion that he was capable of work. He appealed against the disallowance and arrangements are being made to have him examined by a different medical referee at an early date. His entitlement to further payment of disability benefit will be reviewed in the light of the medical referee's report following this examination.
Payment of disability benefit for any periods spent by the claimant in hospital will issue on receipt of medical evidence to this effect.
76.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will make a statement regarding the social welfare entitlements of a persons (details supplied) in Dublin 24; and if approval will issue to him for a weekly payment as he is not in receipt of weekly social welfare payments under any category.
Where a person claiming disability benefit before January 1988 has 39 but less than 208 contributions paid at the appropriate rate since entry into insurable employment, payment of disability benefit is limited to 52 weeks.
The person concerned claimed disability benefit on 22 August 1986. According to the records of the Department he has a total of only 113 contributions paid since his entry into insurable employment. Based on this record he exhausted his 52 week entitlement to benefit on 20 August 1987 and could only requalify for benefit after he has obtained at least a further 13 weeks of insurable employment for which contributions at the appropriate rate have been paid. In the meantime, he is in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance from the Eastern Health Board.
However, if he remains incapable of work he should continue to forward medical certificates to the Department in order to preserve the continuity of his insurance record.
77.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive payment of an invalidity pension.
The person concerned has been in receipt of disability benefit since 9 April 1988. Invalidity pension is payable to insured persons who satisfy the contribution conditions and who are permanently incapable of work. In order that a person may be considered permanently incapable of work, it is necessary for him to have been continuously incapable of work for a minimum period of one year. Therefore the earliest date on which the claimant can qualify for invalidity pension is 9 April 1989. In addition it will be necessary to have him examined by a medical referee for an opinion as to his future capacity for work.
78.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive payment of disability benefit.
The person concerned was examined on 12 September 1988, by a medical referee, who expressed the opinion that he was capable of work. Payment of benefit was disallowed from 26 September 1988, and the person concerned was notified of his right of appeal against this decision. No appeal has been received to date.
79.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the fact that certain class K contributors to PRSI have to attend their local employment exchanges on a regular basis in order to preserve their entitlement to widow's and orphan's pension from his Department; that this is causing great inconvenience to these elderly people; if he intends to rectify this situation and introduce a system whereby these people can sign on without having to physically attend the employment exchange; and his views on whether this is a fair and desirable change in view of the fact that all the people concerned are elderly and retired.
Persons who have previously been employed in insurable employment may, in general, preserve their entitlements to pension by becoming voluntary contributors. Those who do not avail of this option and who are available for and genuinely seeking work may preserve their entitlements by signing the register of the unemployed for credited contributions.
Whilst the basic requirement has always been that all persons signing for credited contributions should prove unemployment each week, over the years some relaxation of this requirement was allowed at a number of local offices. Since April of this year relaxed arrangements have been standardised at all local offices and the position now is that all such persons need do so once every four weeks only. These revised arrangements apply both in the case of persons who prove unemployment by attending at employment exchanges and of those who attend at Garda stations.
It is considered that the present arrangements are reasonable and do not cause any undue inconvenience to those involved.