asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a free fuel allowance has not been granted to a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and when it will be granted as the person is on long-term benefit.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
123.
Persons in receipt of the long term rate of unemployment assistance are entitled to a weekly fuel allowance under the national fuel scheme provided that they (a) live entirely alone or (b) reside only with a qualified adult dependant and/or child dependants. A qualified dependant for this purpose is a person in respect of whom an adult or child dependant allowance is payable. No fuel allowance payable where any person other than the qualified dependants are residing with the claimant.
The person concerned does not fulfil the conditions of entitlement to a fuel allowance under the national fuel scheme as his son is in receipt of unemployment assistance in his own right and is residing in the household.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will make a statement regarding the entitlement of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24 to long-term unemployment assistance and fuel vouchers having regard to the following; (1) the person was in receipt of long-term unemployment assistance for five years until August 1986 when he went to England (2) he recommended signing the unemployed register in Ireland in May, 1987 and was in receipt of short-term unemployment assistance, not having signed for more than 20 weeks (3) to date he has continued to be unemployed for more than the statutory 390 days and would be receiving long-term unemployment assistance were it not for the fact that he commenced a FÁS course in September, 1987 and (4) he was still unemployed at the end of the course in September, 1988 and should have then been entitled to long-term unemployment assistance rate, which in turn would have entitled him to fuel vouchers; whether it is acceptable to deprive this applicant of long-term unemployment assistance and consequently fuel vouchers because of his participation in the FÁS course; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Unemployment assistance at the long term rate is payable in respect of any day of proved unemployment that forms part of a continuous period of unemployment during which the applicant has received payment for at least 390 days. For unemployment assistance purposes, a continuous period of unemployment is any two periods of unemployment not separated by more than 20 weeks. The legislation provides that any period up to one year in duration in which a person participates in a course run or approved by An FÁS shall be disregarded in determining there has been a break of claim. However, periods spent on employment courses or training schemes run by An FÁS do not reckon towards the accumulation of the 390 day period.
One of the conditions for the receipt of a fuel allowance under the national fuel scheme is that the person must be in receipt of the long term rate of unemployment assistance.
The person concerned was in receipt of unemployment assistance at the long term rate until August 1986 when he ceased to sign the unemployed register. He renewed his claim to unemployment assistance on May 1987 and, as there had been a break of claim of more than 20 weeks the claim was authorised at the short term rate with effect from that date. He subsequently participated in a course run by An FÁS for 12 months from 21 September 1987. He made a repeat claim for unemployment assistance on 19 September 1988. While the period spent with An FÁS did not constitute a break in his claim it does not reckon towards the accumulation of the 390 day period. Consequently, the person concerned became entitled to unemployment assistance at the short term rate and accordingly is not eligible for a fuel allowance under the National Fuel Scheme.
125.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the plight of many pupils over 18 years of age who are attending secondary schools, none of whom qualify for child benefit and whose parents or guardians are receiving social welfare payments; if, in view of the fact that, if they were to leave school at 18 years of age they would qualify for unemployment assistance, he will pay child benefit in respect of such pupils until they leave secondary education.
Child benefit is payable up to 18 years of age where the qualified child is in full-time education or is handicapped. Increases in social welfare payments for child dependants are payable in all cases to age 18 except in the case of widows, deserted wives, prisoner's wives and unmarried mothers where payment continues to age 21 as long as the child is in full-time education.
The provision of payments to other social welfare recipients in respect of children over 18 in full-time education would have cost implications and would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
126.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when arrears of disability benefit and a free fuel allowance will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Wexford.
Payment of arrears of disability benefit less unemployment assistance received by the person concerned during the period of his disallowance of benefit will be issued shortly to him. In the meantime, payment of disability benefit on a weekly basis has been restored from 24 November 1988.
Recipients of disability benefit do not qualify for an allowance under the national fuel scheme.
127.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the circumstances of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22 who was serving an 18 months sentence, was released on temporary release in June, 1988 and as a result, the prisoners wife's allowance of his wife and their five children was withdrawn as was their entitlement to free fuel allowance, free beef and Christmas bonus and has been replaced by this person drawing £108.000 per week unemployment assistance on the low rate as his prison sentence is taken to have broken the long term nature of his employment; whether this family are worse off as a result of this person being released from prison; whether this is a totally anomalous situation; if in the circumstances, this person should be entitled to the long term rate of unemployment assistance and the Christmas bonus, free fuel allowance and the free beef allowance or, alternatively, that this person's spouse continues to be entitled to the prisoners wife's allowance for as long as his release is temporary and as long as he has to sign on at the local Garda station each day and at one of the prisons each week; and if he will make a statment on the matter.
Payment of unemployment assistance at the long term rate is payable in respect of any day of proved unemployment which forms part of a continuous period of unemployment during which the applicant has received payment for at least 390 days. For the purpose of unemployment assistance, a continuous period of unemployment is any two periods of unemployment not separated by more than 20 weeks.
One of the conditions of the national fuel scheme is that to qualify for a fuel allowance a person must be in receipt of the long term rate of unemployment assistance.
Only those unemployment assistance applicants who were in receipt of the longterm rate of payment during the week ending on Tuesday 29 November 1988 qualified for the Christmas bonus.
Eligibility for free food under the European Community Free Food Scheme, which is administered by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture, is confined to persons in receipt of the long term rate of unemployment assistance and to those on supplementary welfare allowance.
The person concerned was in receipt of the long term rate of unemployment assistance until he signed off the live register on 12 November 1987. He renewed his claim to unemployment assistance on 20 September 1988 and, because he had broken his claim by more than 20 weeks, he became entitled only to the short term rate of unemployment assistance at £108.10 a week. He is still in receipt of the short term rate and accordingly is not eligible for receipt of the fuel allowance under the national fuel scheme, Christmas bonus, or free beef. However, as he had previously been receiving a fuel allowance under the urban fuel scheme, his entitlement to an allowance under the national fuel scheme is preserved by the "saver clause" which applies in such cases. Arrangements are now being made for payment of the fuel allowance at £5 a week, including all arrears since the commencement of the fuel season, to be made to him.
Between November 1987 and June 1988, the person concerned was in prison and his wife was in receipt of prisoner's wife's allowance in respect of herself and her 5 children. This allowance, which then stood at some £110.90 a week, was terminated on 15 September 1988 when it became known that her husband had been released from prison on a temporary basis. Under the terms of the scheme prisoner's wife's allowance is payable only where the husband is in custody and a person on temporary release may not be regarded as being in custody for the purposes of the scheme.