Michael Bell
Question:249 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason for the delay in processing the claim for unemployment assistance of a person (details supplied) in County Louth.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The person concerned exhausted his entitlements to unemployment benefit and claimed unemployment assistance on 19 September 1990. His means, derived from capital, a pension and the value of his wife's earnings were assessed at £113.60 per week.
This assessment left him entitled to payment of unemployment assistance at the weekly rate of £6.20.
He has appealed this decision to the social welfare appeals office. The appeal has been delayed due to the need for further investigations, which proved to be protracted, into information put forward by him in support of his appeal. The papers in his case have now been referred to the social welfare appeals office and a decision will be made as soon as possible.
John Ellis
Question:250 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will consider paying the living alone allowance to recipients of widows' pensions who reside alone.
The living alone allowance applies to people who are living on their own, who are over age 66 and who are in receipt of old age, blind, retirement, widow's or invalidity pension, deserted wife's benefit/allowance, prisoner's wife allowance, or widow's/widower's parent's pension under the occupational injuries benefit scheme.
To widen the scope of the living alone allowance to include widows under 66 would have wide-ranging implications and could only be considered in a budgetary context.
Seán Barrett
Question:251 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin who was a social welfare recipient for a period of two years prior to going to England in February 1989 and who subsequently returned home and went back on social welfare on 27 September, 1989; and if he will allow the previous social welfare record in this case to be taken into account to enable the recipient to qualify for the Christmas bonus.
In order to qualify for payment of the 1990 Christmas bonus, a claimant was required to have been in receipt of the long term rate of unemployment assistance on any day during the week commencing 28 November 1990 and ending on 4 December 1990.
Where a person previously in receipt of unemployment assistance at the long term rate renews his or her claim after a break of more than 20 weeks it is treated as a new claim under social welfare legislation and accordingly payment can only be made at the short term rate.
The person concerned renewed his claim to unemployment assistance on 27 September 1989 after a break of 26 weeks and was paid at the short term rate. As he could not qualify for payment at the long term rate until 22 December 1990 he did not qualify for payment of the 1990 Christmas bonus payment.
Seán Barrett
Question:252 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason persons (details supplied) in County Dublin who were previously in receipt of the free fuel allowance under the national fuel scheme have had this allowance withdrawn.
Due to an oversight the allowance was not being paid in this case. The situation has now been remedied and arrears to October 1990 have been issued.
William Cotter
Question:253 Mr. Cotter asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the entitlement to unemployment assistance of persons who have to do part-time work for two hours per day from Monday to Friday inclusive; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
It is a statutory condition for the receipt of unemployment assistance that a person must be unemployed on each day for which he or she claims payment of assistance. Section 135 (5) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 1981 provides that a person shall not be deemed to be unemployed on any day on which he or she works for wages or any other remuneration.
The legislation also provides that an unemployment assistance claimant may work for up to three days in any period of six days and be paid unemployment assistance for the other three days. However, a person who works from Monday to Friday inclusive — regardless of the number of hours involved — would not be regarded as unemployed on any of these days and would not be entitled to receive payment of unemployment assistance for any of them.
The part-time job incentive scheme was introduced to help overcome possible disincentive effects which this system could have in certain cases. Under this scheme, which operates nationwide, those who are long term unemployed can engage in part-time employment and at the same time be paid an allowance by my Department. To be eligible for this allowance, a person must have been in receipt of unemployment assistance at the long term rate and be working in insurable employment of not more than 24 hours in any week. The allowance is payable whether the hours of employment are spread over all of the days of the weeks or compressed into a few days.
The current rates of payment to people participating in the part-time job incentive scheme are £33 a week for people without dependants and £55 for those with qualified dependants.