Michael Ferris
Question:30 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the procedures for medical examinations in applications for the free telephone rental allowance.
Written Answers. - Free Telephone Rental Allowance.
In order to qualify for a free telephone rental allowance a person must be in receipt of one of a number of specified payments and reside either entirely alone or only with persons who come within certain excepted categories. These excepted categories are: children under the age of 15; other persons who are so permanently incapacitated that they could not summon help in an emergency.
A pensioner residing with a person aged over 66 in respect of whom an adult dependant allowance is payable, may qualify for free telephone rental allowance where either the pensioner or adult dependant is so permanently incapacitated that they could not summon help in an emergency.
Where a medical certificate is submitted in respect of the pensioner, the spouse or any other person aged over 15 years, and where the other conditions appear to be fulfilled, the medical certificate is reviewed by an official and may be also sent to the medical adviser for any necessary interpretation and advice. Less than 10 per cent of all applications received involve any consultation with the medical adviser.
The opinion of the person's own doctor, supplemented with any advice the medical adviser can furnish using the facts presented in the certificate supplied, forms the basis for the award or rejection as the case may be. Where a rejection is queried, the pensioner is told that further medical evidence, if submitted, will be considered.