asked the Minister for Social Welfare if there are plans to incorporate a 30 per cent additional cost of blindness to the blind pension, as recommended by the Union of Voluntary Organisations for the Handicapped.
64.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
63.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the consideration which has been given to the proposals of the Union of Voluntary Organisations for the Handicapped for a new system of financial payments to blind persons.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 57, 63 and 64 together. The document referred to from the Union of Voluntary Organisations for the Handicapped contains a large number of recommendations related to allowances and services for disabled people generally. The document recommends a basic allowance for disabled people related to average earnings to replace existing social insurance and assistance provisions with an additional allowance for additional costs incurred by reason of handicap. These proposals would involve a fundamental restructuring of social insurance and social assistance provisions affecting disabled people. Recommendations in this area were also made by, inter alia, the Commission on Social Welfare. The social welfare schemes in question are under review and the recommendations in the document referred to by the Deputy will be taken into consideration in that context.
The free travel scheme applies to persons over 66 and to persons under 66 who are incapacitated and in receipt of certain social welfare payments and persons who are blind and aged 18 years or over. There are restrictions on the use of services in certain areas during peak hours. These restrictions do not apply, however, to qualified disabled persons who are attending full-time rehabilitation courses or to mentally handicapped persons. The question of further concessions in relation to the free travel scheme on the lines referred to by the Deputy will be considered as circumstances permit.