Vol. 411 No. 2
30 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Social Welfare if the examination of the weekly rate of fuel allowance for low income households in areas where the burning of bituminous coal has been banned, which he indicated in Dáil Éireann on 10 July 1991 was under way, has yet been completed; the rate which will be paid this winter; when it will come into operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
A review of all aspects of the ban on bituminous coal in the Dublin area was undertaken in July last by the Department of the Environment in consultation with my Department. It concluded that an increase in the rate of the weekly fuel allowance was not warranted for the 1991-92 heating season.
The new heating season commenced on Monday 14 October last. The amount of the smokeless fuel allowance remains at £3 per week and the conditions for receiving the allowance are the same as last season. The rate of allowance was set having regard to the increased costs to households arising from the ban on the sale of bituminous coal in the greater Dublin area in 1990.
I am satisfied that the measures introduced for the new heating season will assist the households concerned in meeting the additional costs involved during the new season.
31 Mr. Browne (Carlow/Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of women receiving the unmarried mother's allowance in (a) 1981 and (b) 1991.
The information requested by the Deputy is as follows.
32 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he intends to allow contributory pension rights to persons on foot of contributions made prior to 1953 and in conjunction with further contributions under the 1988 Act with a view to eliminating the anomaly which exists at present whereby such persons receive no pension benefits whatever; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
35 Mr. Sheehan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the anomaly that exists in the Social Welfare Act, whereby self-employed people, including farmers, are compelled to pay PRSI contributions and will not qualify for old age contributory pension at the age of 65 years unless they have ten years contributions paid prior to attaining that age; and if he will now consider allowing people who enter that category, between the age of 55 years and 65 years an opportunity of paying their arrears of contributions from 55 years onwards to enable then to qualify for their old age contributory pension at the age of 65 years.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 35 together.
33 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Social Welfare when was the last time income limits were reviewed regarding the payment of maternity benefit; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that women earning in excess of £11,000 per annum cannot claim the maternity benefit equivalent to their salary; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Under the maternity allowance scheme for women in employment the rate of payment is 70 per cent of a woman's reckonable weekly earnings in the relevant income tax year, subject to a minimum payment of £76 and a maximum payment of £154 per week. The maximum payment is paid when the woman's earnings are £11,000 or more. Since the introduction of the scheme, the upper earnings limit has been the same as that applying to pay-related benefits generally. The income ceiling for all pay-related benefits, including maternity allowance, has remained at £11,000 since April 1983. Given the financial constraints in recent years the general policy has been to target increases towards those on lowest payments, rather than increase pay-related benefits. I will continue to keep the situation under review and will consider any possible increase in the ceiling in the context of the budget, and in the light of possible developments at EC level.
36 Mr. T. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will introduce equality in the area of pension entitlements between men and women who are currently covered by occupational pensions.
Part VII of the Pensions Act 1990 which I introduced last year requires occupational pension schemes to apply the principle of equal treatment to men and women. The Act requires an end to discrimination, both direct and indirect, in the scope of conditions of access to schemes, benefit rights and contribution levels. This part of the Act will come into operation on a date to be prescribed.
38 Mr. Browne (Carlow/Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will standardise the cost of board and lodgings in the assessment of means in claims for various allowances.
The value to a claimant of free board and lodgings occurs, in the main, in the assessment of the benefit accruing to a young person living at home and claiming unemployment assistance. It covers the value of accommodation, meals, support and maintenance as well as generally sharing in the standard of living of the household and the facilities which the household enjoys. Because the value of free board and lodgings depends on the household circumstances the amount of the assessment varies. The assessment achieves a degree of equity as between applicants in different household circumstances. Standardising the value of board and lodgings in the assessment would be contrary to this.
In this year's budget I introduced a minimum weekly payment of £5 for unemployment assistance claimants whose current entitlement is less than £5 and whose only means is the yearly value of free board and lodgings at home.
The operation of the means test ensures that assistance is targeted at those who are most in need and is an equitable way of directing limited resources. To standardise the value of free board and lodgings in the assessment of means would have major financial implications.
