Vol. 434 No. 5
26 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give the details of the recent extension of dental benefits to the spouses of insured persons; the number of women he envisages will be included in the new scheme; the extent of their cover in relation to specific services; and if he will give the cost to his Department of the inclusion of these extra numbers of beneficiaries.
33 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give the details of the recent extension of dental benefits to the spouses of insured persons; the number of women he envisages will be included in the new scheme; the extent of their cover in relation to specific services; and if he will give the cost to his Department of the inclusion of these extra numbers of beneficiaries.
34 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give the details of the recent extension of dental benefits to the spouses of insured persons; the number of women he envisages will be included in the new scheme; the extent of their cover in relation to specific services; and if he will give the cost to his Department of the inclusion of these extra numbers of beneficiaries.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 33 and 34 together.
Following the extension of the treatment benefits scheme to the dependent spouses of insured persons in 1987, an additional 300,000 people became eligible to apply for dental benefit. The vast majority of these were women working full time in the home. A dispute arose with the Irish Dental Association following the introduction of the dependent spouses' scheme in 1987. This has been resolved, and all dental practitioners on the Department's dental panel are offering the full range of treatments available under the dental benefit scheme to qualified dependent spouses.
Some 150,000 dependent spouses have benefited from the scheme since its introduction. It is estimated that 50,000 dependent spouses will benefit annually from now on.
Treatments available under the dental benefit scheme include an annual examination, scale and polish and treatment of mild gum disorders, all of which are free of charge to the patient. Treatments such as fillings and extractions attract a modest patient charge towards their cost, with my Department paying the balance. More complicated procedures such as the treatment of severe gum disorders and root canal treatment are also covered under the scheme, with my Department making a fixed contribution towards the cost of these treatments and the patient paying the balance due to the dental practitioner. In the case of dentures my Department pays 50 per cent of a fixed fee. All these treatments are now available to dependent spouses under the scheme.
28 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will make regulations which will eliminate the situation whereby a young mother who had a child in 1992 by deciding to have a second child in 1994 would have her maternity benefit calculated on the tax year 1992-93 but, because she was in receipt of social welfare, that is maternity benefit for 14 weeks in 1992, her entitlement will be reduced as it is based on only 38 weeks income; and if he will take the necessary steps to remove this discriminatory anomaly.
32 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will deal with the anomaly in our social welfare system in the area of maternity benefits, where a person applying for maternity benefit in two consecutive years will receive a lesser payment in the second year, due to the methods employed by his Department in calculating the benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 32 together.
At present the weekly rate of maternity benefit is calculated at 70 per cent of the claimants' average reckonable weekly earnings in the relevant tax year, subject to a minimum payment of £65 per week and a maximum payment of £159 per week. The relevant tax year is the last complete income tax year before beginning of the benefit.
Maternity benefit is not treated as income for the purposes of determining average reckonable earnings. The minimum payment of £65 ensures that recipients whose earnings in the relevant tax year are low do not have their entitlements reduced below the level of other analogous social welfare payments.
