Andrew Boylan
Question:6 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will consider giving a free travel pass to widows, given the very poor financial situation of many of them at present.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Free Travel Scheme.
The free travel scheme applies to all permanent residents of the State aged 66 years and over, including widows, and to certain categories of disabled people under 66 years of age. The scheme also covers their spouses when they travel with them.
The major benefit of the free travel scheme is that it enables elderly and disabled people who otherwise might not be in a position to get around to remain active and involved in social and other related activities. Any further extension of the scheme to cover additional people would be expensive. Where the resources for improvements in social welfare provisions are limited and while there are pressing needs to be met in many other areas, the scope for any extension is similarly limited.
However, the possibility of extending the free travel arrangements is kept under review. It would, of course, have to be considered in a budgetary context.
Would the Minister not agree that a special case could be made for those widows who are five years away from receiving a contributory or non-contributory old age pension in the sense that they can be lonely, quite vulnerable and very much alone in the world? In view of the fact that the companions of sick people over 66 years can travel free with them does the Minister not think that priority should be given to widows in that category?
The Deputy's remarks in relation to the spirit of the scheme are correct. The scheme was intended to help older people who have difficulty in getting about to enable them to get out and about and mix with the community.
It is a good scheme.
On that basis, obviously people over 60 years come to mind. As the Deputy will know, I have just extended the scheme to the companions of the disabled, which brings in about 12,000 extra people. In the budget the scheme is extended to people in residential care who qualify for DPMA. Those are some of the improvements made to the scheme. I am afraid the question of further development will have to await further resources.
Ivor Callely
Question:9 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the names of the various organisations and the amount of funding given to them by his Department during 1990, which was specifically aimed to help combat poverty.
My Department are responsible for administering a number of supports for voluntary and community groups working for the benefit of the disadvantaged in our society. In 1990, the total value of grants provided to such organisations was almost £2 million.
My Department are responsible for administering a scheme of once-off grants to voluntary bodies operating in the social services area. A total of 125 projects working with deprived people were assisted under this scheme in 1990 and the overall value of grants made amounted to £750,000.
I also introduced in 1990 a new scheme of grants for locally based women's groups under which 199 groups throughout the country received grants totalling £350,000. In allocating grants, priority was given to groups in disadvantaged areas and the range of activities funded included home management programmes, counselling and advice services, self-development programmes, community education, women's health programmes, young parent's groups, projects for women affected by family violence and traveller's projects. This programme was very successful and provided very worthwhile assistance for the groups concerned.
Last year also the Government allocated a sum of £525,000 for a three-year programme of community development. Under this programme, grants are being made towards the cost of equipping and staffing resource centres which provide a focal point for community development in local urban and rural disadvantaged areas. The activities being undertaken include local enterprise initiatives and projects for the elderly, young families, single parents, the unemployed and other groups in need of help, support, advice and information. Fifteen projects were assisted under this scheme in 1990. I have arranged to have issued to the Deputy a list of projects supported under the schemes of grants for women's groups and voluntary and community development organisations.
In addition to these three major support mechanisms for voluntary and community organisations several special once-off grants were also made in 1990. Grants totalling £150,000 were made to support the work of the six rape crisis centres around the country.
In December last, I provided a grant of £100,000 to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to enable the society continue its very successful nationwide programme of personal development and home management courses for women in the home.
I also provided a grant of £50,000 to the Simon Community to support work projects for homeless people in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk and Galway. This grant was also used to upgrade the accommodation provided by the Simon Community, to develop an effective referral system for homeless people and to devise a resettlement strategy for some of Simon's long term residents.
A further £25,000 was provided towards the costs of a pilot scheme on child abuse prevention in the Eastern Health Board area. In addition, my Department are also responsible for funding the Combat Poverty Agency. The 1990 allocation to the agency was £1.1 million and of this amount, almost £650,000 was used to support community-based projects throughout the country. These include the three Irish projects participating in the third EC poverty programme which received over £400,000 through the agency in 1990.
I suppose the House should thank Deputy Callely for giving the Minister an opportunity to blow his own trumpet on various issues in a very one-sided way. Arising from the Minister's reply, I want to ask him a question about the uncertainty of funding for these pilot schemes. Would the Minister agree that it is impossible for these voluntary groups to plan properly when there is no certainty about the funding they will receive — it is always a once off type of payment? Is it necessary for the funding to be a once-off nature so that the Minister can come into the House every year and tell us about all the great things he has done?
This question asked the Minister to outline the names of the various organisations and the amounts of funding granted to them. I cannot permit an extension of that.
I want to say very briefly that we introduced for the first time last year three year community development funding which is along the lines suggested by the Deputy.
Austin Deasy
Question:10 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Waterford who is in receipt of unemployment benefit is not allowed an allowance in respect of his son who is over 18 and in full-time education in Dungarvan VEC; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
When the child dependant allowance for 18-21 year olds in full-time education was introduced it applied only to persons in receipt of widows' pension and analogous payments. Over the last three years I have extended this to other persons on long term social welfare payments, including the long term unemployed. The last step of this process will be completed this year with the raising from 20 to 21 of the age limit for allowances in those cases. I believe this is a major achievement at a time when resources are limited.
Improvements costing £150 million in a full year have been made in this year's budget. These include a number of improvements in provision for families on social welfare. In addition to the raising of the age limit from 20 to 21 there is an increase in the minimum child dependant payment to £12 and a reduction from six to three in the number of different rates of child dependant allowances. The budget also provides for a six week after death payment of child dependant allowance where a child dependant of a long term social welfare recipient dies. Another innovation is the continuation throughout the summer of child dependant allowances in payment for children over 18 in full time education whether they continue in full time education or not.
The payment of child dependant allowances over age 18 to the long term unemployed is in recognition of the extra financial pressures caused by long term unemployment. Persons on short term payments such as unemployment benefit do not qualify for the payment of child dependant allowances in respect of children over age 18.
Under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress the Government are committed to implementing a major programme of measures directed at child and family support. The measures to be taken will be drawn up with a view to directing assistance at those in greatest need and the future development of child dependant allowances will be considered in that context. The person in question does not qualify because he is on unemployment benefit which is, of course, a short term payment.
I had a general question on this specific subject on the Order Paper yesterday for answer today but it was removed overnight for some reason which I believe is concerned with the budget debate.
That is normal practice, Deputy.
I generally find the Minister to be fair minded and receptive to change where inequities are concerned. Would the Minister not agree that there is inequity in a system where a person on unemployment benefit cannot receive an allowance in respect of their child while a person on long term unemployment assistance can receive a benefit in respect of his son or daughter? I do not think this inequity can be justified. Does the Minister hold out the hope that this matter will be resolved satisfactorily in the review he has just spoken about?
The basis of the difference is that a person on unemployment benefit can receive pay-related benefit in addition to unemployment benefit, as the person in question in this case does. There are two factors involved in this issue. One is that a person can receive pay-related benefit in addition to unemployment benefit and the other is that a person might only be on unemployment benefit for six, eight or nine months and his resources are not as depleted. That is the theory of the scheme. Three years ago I got agreement at Government to extend this to the long term unemployed, spreading the cost over three years. The third phase is now coming in for the long term unemployed and analogous groups. Other benefits, such as educational opportunities and so on, are also related to the long term unemployed only. I will be looking at that question to see what I can do, even in the medium-term. It is certainly one of the questions that will be considered in the review to take place within the Programme for Economic and Social Progress, which provides for the allocation of extra resources for children.