Charles Flanagan
Question:144 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a free telephone rental allowance was refused to a person (details supplied) in County Laois.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
In order to qualify for a free telephone rental allowance, a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and must be living either entirely alone or only with dependent child/ren under 15 years of age and/or persons who are so permanently incapacitated that they cannot get help in an emergency.
The person concerned is in receipt of a qualifying payment. He applied for the allowance in April 1989, July 1989 and November 1989. These applications had to be refused because he was residing with his wife who, in the opinion of the Department's medical adviser, was not permanently incapacitated. If the circumstances of the person concerned or his wife have changed in the meantime, he should reapply for the allowance and his case will be reassessed quickly.