Donal Carey
Question:279 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give details of the total pay related benefit paid in each of the years from 1986 to 1991 inclusive.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The expenditure on Pay-Related Benefit for the years 1986 to 1991 is as follows:
|
1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
|
£000 |
£000 |
£000 |
£000 |
£000 |
£000(Prov.) |
|
59,182 |
47,490 |
29,319 |
22,947 |
19,793 |
22,450 |
Jim Mitchell
Question:280 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the maximum amount of money payable each week to a single person doing home help work without affecting the amount of unemployment payments they receive.
Jim Mitchell
Question:284 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give details of the number of hours per week that can be worked and the maximum amount of money that can be earned per week by those on unemployment payments without affecting these payments; and whether these arrangements apply only to home help and similar work authorised by statutory bodies.
I propose to take Questions 280 and 284 together.
Unemployment assistance is not payable in respect of any day during which a person is engaged in insurable employment under a contract of service irrespective of the extent of the employment or wages paid. Accordingly, persons employed as home helps by the health board, being in insurable employment under a contract of service, would not be entitled to unemployment assistance for days during which they were so employed. If unemployed for at least three days in every period of six consecutive days, a person could qualify for assistance for the days not worked subject to satisfying the means test.
The 1991 Social Welfare Act provided for the exclusion from means assessment of income from employment of a casual nature by a health board as a home help. Accordingly a person claiming unemployment assistance who is employed as a home help on a part-time basis will not be assessed with any means from these earnings; neither will a person be assessed with means arising from income earned by a spouse employed as a home help.
For unemployment benefit purposes, persons may be regarded as unemployed even though engaged in employment provided this employment is of a subsidiary nature, i.e., employment which could be carried on in conjunction with their normal employment and it does not preclude their availability to take up full-time work.
To be regarded as unemployed for unemployment benefit purposes, a person engaged in a subsidiary employment must have a total of 117 contributions paid at the Class A rate in the three years preceding the date of claim or have income from the subsidiary employment not exceeding £10 per day.
Jim Mitchell
Question:281 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 20 that (1) her household income has been reduced by more than £100 per week following the death of her husband and (2) she did not receive payment of his pension for the six weeks after his death; if he will now confirm that this six weeks payment will be paid; if, in the circumstances of this case, he will have her pension reviewed with a view to her being made a greater pension than is currently being paid.
The person concerned is currently in receipt of an old age contributory pension of £66.70 per week. This includes a living alone allowance awarded from the date of her husband's death. In addition she is in receipt of free electricity and free telephone rental allowances, a free travel pass and weekly fuel allowance during the winter season.
The rate of old age contributory pension payable is determined by the person's insurance record and is not affected by fluctuations in the overall income of her household. Consequently, the pensioner is not entitled to an increase in her rate of pension arising from the loss of her husband's occupation pension and his old age contributory pension following his death.
Payment of six weeks pension to the spouse of a deceased pensioner is made only in cases where (a) the deceased pensioner was in receipt of an adult dependant allowance in respect of his spouse or (b) where the deceased pensioner would have been in receipt of such an allowance but for the fact that the pensioner's spouse was in receipt of an old age contributory pension or a carer's allowance in her own right.
As the person concerned was in receipt of an old age contributory pension in her own right at the time of her husband's death, she is not entitled to the payment of his pension for the six week period following his death. She is receiving her correct entitlements.
Michael Finucane
Question:282 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the entitlement of a person who is in the self employed contributory pension scheme when they reach pension age where that person does not have the required ten years contributions; if he will confirm whether this person can claim a refund; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
One of the qualifying conditions for receipt of an old age contibutory pension is that the claimant must have entered insurance before the age of 56 years. Accordingly self-employed persons who became insured for the first time when social insurance was extended to the self-employed in 1988 and who were then aged 56 or over will not qualify for the old age contributory pension.
However, social welfare contributions payable by the self-employed also give cover for widow's contributory pension to which entitlement can arise after three years insurance.
Where a person enters insurance for the first time after the age of 56 years he or she may be entitled to a refund of the pension element of any contributions paid provided they do not qualify for a non-contributory pension.
I am reviewing the conditions for refund of contributions in these cases to see whether any changes are required to cater for particular anomalies to which the present arrangements may give rise.
Donal Carey
Question:283 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give details of the total expenditure in social welfare payments under each category for each of the years between 1986 and 1991 broken down into the categories (a) social insurance benefits, (b) social assistance, (c) grants to voluntary bodies, (d) national lottery grants and (e) the total annual administration costs.
The information requested by the Deputy is shown in the following tabular statement.
|
1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
|||||||
|
£m |
£m |
£m |
£m |
£m |
£m |
|||||||
|
Social Insurance Benefits* |
1,301 |
.4 |
1,339 |
.2 |
1,322 |
.7 |
1,306 |
.7 |
1,339 |
.5 |
1,448 |
.6 |
|
(prov.) |
||||||||||||
|
Social Assistance Allowance |
1,097 |
.95 |
1,159 |
.78 |
1,190 |
.82 |
1,246 |
.92 |
1,349 |
.23 |
1,511 |
.4 |
|
Grants to Voluntary Bodies |
0 |
.750 |
0 |
.740 |
0 |
.100 |
1 |
.118 |
1 |
.207 |
— |
|
|
National Lottery Grants |
— |
— |
0 |
.850 |
0 |
.900 |
0 |
.750 |
2 |
.360 |
||
|
Administration Costs |
106 |
.7 |
118 |
.3 |
125 |
.59 |
126 |
.88 |
133 |
.72 |
146 |
.84 |
*The occupational injuries fund and the redundancy and employers insolvency fund were amalgamated with the social insurance fund on 1 May 1990, but expenditure under these funds for all years has been included in the tables, for ease of comparison. The redundancy and employers insolvency payments schemes are administered by the Department of Labour.