Vol. 420 No. 3
170 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare will be reconsidered for a free telephone rental allowance in view of the special circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The person concerned applied for Free Telephone Rental Allowance in January 1992. One of the conditions for receipt of this allowance is that the applicant must reside alone or only with children under 15 years of age or with other persons who are so permanently incapacitated as to be unable to summon assistance in the event of an emergency.
The person concerned resides with his wife and their four young children. As his wife does not suffer from any physical incapacity which would prevent her from summoning assistance in the event of an emergency, his application for the allowance had to be rejected. The person concerned was notified of this decision.
I appreciate the difficult circumstances in which the person concerned and his family find themselves. However, it would not be possible to make an exception to the rules of the scheme in this type of case without discriminating against other persons who might be in a similar situation.
