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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 2 Nov 1993

Vol. 435 No. 3

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Ivan Yates

Question:

37 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Social Welfare the maximum funding that is available through supplementary welfare allowance on a weekly basis to people who have special dietary needs; and if a person (details supplied) in County Wexford who has a severe heart condition can get an increase.

Social Welfare recipients who have a special dietary requirement arising from a health condition and whose means are insufficient to meet this need, may qualify for an additional payment under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.

The amount of the payment in any particular case is determined by the Health Board and is designed to reflect the additional cost to the person of the special diet over and above the amount the person would be expected to pay from his basic social welfare payment.

The South Eastern Health Board has advised that the person in question is in receipt of a diet supplement appropriate to her circumstances.

Michael Bell

Question:

38 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Social Welfare if those on long term disability benefit book payments will be paid the Christmas bonus.

The Government have approved the payment of a Christmas bonus this year of 70 per cent of normal weekly payments. This year, for the first time, all qualified recipients will receive a minimum bonus of £20. The cost of the bonus this year is £33 million which is an increase of £2 million on last year.

The Christmas bonus will be paid to pensioners and other people receiving long term social welfare and health payments including the elderly, widows, lone parents, the long term unemployed and people in receipt of the carer's allowance. In all over 1.14 million people will benefit i.e. 685,000 recipients and their 456,000 dependants.

The Christmas bonus was introduced originally in 1980 for elderly and other pensioners. It was subsequently extended to include the long term unemployed in receipt of long term unemployment assistance. Persons in receipt of invalidity pension are also covered for the bonus. There are no proposals at present to extend the Christmas bonus to other categories of recipients. The cost of extending the bonus to the 27,000 people in receipt of disability benefit for 12 months or more would be £1.3 million.

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

39 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social Welfare the proposals, if any, he has to improve the situation of widows, in particular those in poor health who, unless they are over the age of 66, are in many cases precluded from being approved for free electricity and other allowances.

The Free Electricity Allowance Scheme and schemes such as the Free Natural Gas Allowance, the Free Television Licence and the Free Telephone Rental are available to recipients of pensions for old age or invalidity who are living alone or only with certain exempted people. The cost of these schemes is currently of the order of £50 million a year. The question of extending these schemes to additional groups not covered at present (such as widows under 66 years of age) could only be considered in a budgetary context.

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