Vol. 421 No. 1
13 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will make payment of the six-week after-death payment to a person (details supplied) in County Waterford in view of the fact that it is an unfair penalty to disallow this because she was in receipt of the carer's allowance prior to her husband's death and which had only been claimed the previous year; and if he will re-examine the case and grant payment immediately.
The husband of the person concerned died on 21 January 1992. Prior to his death, he had been in receipt of an old age contributory pension of £69 per week. This included the maximum personal rate of pension and a free fuel allowance.
The person concerned had been in receipt of a carer's allowance from November 1990 up to the time her husband died. Following his death, she received payment of his personal rate of pension and free fuel allowance for six weeks. She is currently in receipt of widow's contributory pension at the maximum rate of £58.20. She is also entitled to a free fuel allowance of £5 per week during the annual heating season.
The six-week payment of adult dependant allowance is only payable where the deceased pensioner had been in receipt of an adult dependant allowance in respect of his spouse. As the person concerned was in receipt of a carer's allowance at the time of her late husband's death, it was not possible for my Department to pay her adult dependant allowance in addition to her late husband's personal rate of pension for the six-week period following his death.
I would point out that in this case the person concerned was paid a total of £3,176.50 by way of carer's allowance in lieu of £2,688 by way of increases on her deceased husband's pension which would otherwise have been payable.
Any change in the conditions governing entitlement in these cases would have cost implications and I will have them reviewed in the context of next year's budget.
None of us likes to raise personalised cases such as this in the House but an anomaly exists in that the woman in question ceased to get the carer's allowance from the day her husband died. Had she not been in receipt of the carer's allowance she would have received six weeks payment, not just of her husband's pension but of a dependant's allowance. In actual fact, she received neither the carer's allowance for those six weeks nor the dependant's allowance. I think the Minister can see the anomaly. She feels she has been victimised and she has been. Perhaps the Minister would rectify that anomaly.
I have examined this case and I recognise the anomaly. I cannot do anything at the present time for this person. The reason for the anomaly is that prior to 4 April 1990 the payment of a six-weeks pension was only awarded when the deceased was receiving an increase in respect of a dependent spouse. Under section 33 of the Social Welfare Act, 1990, this payment was extended to cover persons in respect of whom an adult dependant increase would have been payable but for the fact that the adult dependant was not in receipt of old age, non-contributory or blind pension in his or her own right. However, these provisions did not provide for the six-weeks payment if the dependant was in receipt of the carer's allowance as this allowance was only introduced on 1 November 1990. I am prepared to say that in the context of next year's budget I will correct that particular anomaly. I think that would only be fair because the cost implications must be very small.
Can the Minister deal with it in retrospection?
I do not have power to do that at present because it is not provided for in the Act. The Social Welfare Act, 1990, was in force before the introduction of the carer's allowance. I will give a commitment to change that anomaly in next year's budget.
