Vol. 424 No. 5
204 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social Welfare when the household deduction facility to help social welfare recipients with household bill settlement will be extended to County Meath; and the way in which this facility will work.
Provision was enacted in the Social Welfare Act, 1991, to enable an agreed amount to be deducted from a social welfare payment with the consent of the recipient and paid over on his-her behalf to a specified body. The type of specified body is defined so as to allow for the participation of all the recognised utilities and local authorities.
An Post have been commissioned to develop the necessary deduction facility on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare. Negotiations have been under way between An Post and the various utilities and housing authorities on the proposed operation of the household budgeting facility. An Post have received considerable co-operation from these bodies in designing the proposed scheme. The proposed facility is currently being developed and it is hoped to test the facility on a number of claimants in the Dublin area in January 1993. Depending on its success it is then intended to progressively extend it to cover as wide an area as possible.
The facility will allow a client to agree with An Post to make deductions in respect of any number of specified bodies subject to an overall limit on the amount of the payment that can be deducted.
