Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Oct 1992

Vol. 423 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefit.

Michael Bell

Question:

434 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the dates each year on which the transitional payment of £20 was reduced by £2; the dates on which the Ministerial order was made in each of these years; the dates on which the final removal of the remaining £12 was removed; and the date on which the Ministerial order was made for the removal of the remaining £12 benefit.

Minister for Social Welfare (Mr. McCreevy)

The Social Welfare (Preservation of Rights) (No. 2) Regulations, 1986 provided for the introduction of transitional payments, with effect from November, 1986. These transitional payments are introduced so as to avoid a significant reduction in income for married men whose spouses no longer qualified as adult dependants under the revised dependency arrangements introduced at that time.

Married men who lost the adult dependant increase by virtue of the wife being in receipt of a social welfare payment in her own right received a transitional payment of £20 per week. Where the wife had income in excess of £50 per week, the husband lost the Adult Dependant Allowance and half of the increases for children. In these cases, a weekly payment of £10 was made and the full increases for children were restored.

While the transitional payments were originally intended to last for one year only, they were continued on an annual basis by way of regulations. From 1988 to 1991 this was done on the basis of a reduction of £2 and £1 respectively in the level of the payments to coincide with budget increases in rates of payment at the end of July each year.

The dates on which the relevant Regulations were made were as follows:

Year	Date of Regulations
1988	3 April 1988.
1989	19 July 1989.
1990	26 June 1990.
1991	18 February 1991.

The Government decided earlier this year to provide for equality of treatment in respect of the period of delay in implementing the 1979 EC Directive, at a cost of £60 million in the period 1992 to 1994. The transitional payments, which were found by the courts to be in conflict with the principle of equal treatment, had to be discontinued at the same time.

The Social Welfare (Preservation of Rights) (Amendment) Regulations, 1992, (which were made on 25 February, 1992) provided for a continuation of the transitional payments of £12 and £6, as provided for under the Social Welfare (Preservation of Rights) (Amendment) Regulations, 1991, up to week commencing 27 July 1992. The transitional payments ceased to be paid with effect from that date.