Vol. 432 No. 1
124 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give details of the regulations which will allow people to qualify for invalidity pension without waiting 12 months after first becoming ill in exceptional cases where the illness is incurable.
The rules in relation to receiving Invalidity Pension are to be relaxed for people with serious illnesses. Under new regulations which I laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas recently, 25 May 1993, people who are diagnosed as seriously ill will have immediate access to the higher rate invalidity pension payment of £60.80. In addition they will receive the "extra" benefits which the pension attracts such as free travel, and gas, electricity and telephone rental allowances. Up to now people in this situation depended on the lower rate disability benefit, £55.60, because the rules required that they had to be receiving disability benefit for at least a year before they could be considered for the invalidity pension.
The new Regulations will help people who are facing a difficult period in their lives and will give them the security of the higher rate payment and "extra" benefits. There are other advantages for invalidity pensioners. People receiving disability benefit are paid weekly by cheque and are normally required to submit weekly medical certificates from their doctor. Invalidity pensioners receive their payment by book of Personal Payable Orders and are only required to submit medical certificates periodically.
The regulations in question are the Social Welfare (Invalidity Pension) Regulations 1993 (S.I. No. 132 of 1993), which were laid before the House on 25 May last.
One of the qualifying conditions for Invalidity Pension is that the claimant must have been incapable of work for at least 12 months before making his or her claim. The new regulations also entitles to invalidity pension a person who is incapable of work for less than 12 months but where evidence is adduced to establish to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or an appeals officer that the incapacity for work is of such a nature that the likelihood is that the person will be incapable of work for life.
In addition, the regulations consolidate a number of existing provisions relating to invalidity pensions.
