Gay Mitchell
Question:197 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason the £12 equality payment, which persons (details supplied) in Dublin 12 are currently in receipt of, is being terminated.
Vol. 420 No. 9
197 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason the £12 equality payment, which persons (details supplied) in Dublin 12 are currently in receipt of, is being terminated.
As part of arrangements made in 1986 for implementing EC Directive 79/7 on equal treatment between men and women in matters of social security, the then Government put in place a number of temporary alleviating payments. The purpose of these payments was to reduce the impact of losses arising where a spouse no longer qualified as an adult dependant.
These alleviating payments, initially £20 per week for a person whose spouse was receiving a social welfare payment in her own right and £10 per week plus half rate increases for children where the spouse has income of over £50 per week from employment, were made from November 1986 for a period of one year.