Vol. 436 No. 2
42 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on whether the disregard on means of £7 per week allowed to applicants for old age pensions is in need of updating; and the proposals, if any, he will make towards this end in his 1994 budget.
In determining entitlement to an old age non-contributory pension, the first £6 of weekly means are disregarded, so that a person with £6 weekly means qualifies for the same rate of pension as a person with no means. In the case of a married couple this would amount to £12 a week. A number of other disregards also apply, including a proportion of any earnings of a pensioner with dependent children, the value of the applicant's home and so on. This means that as far as capital is concerned a person can have means up to £2,987.50 if single or £5,975 if married and still receive the full rate pension. A couple could have joint capital up to £57,975 and still qualify for the minimum rate of pension and participate in all the "free schemes".
Any increase in the disregards would have financial implications. In recent years the practice has been to use any additional resources to increase the basic pension payment rather than increase the disregard. In this way resources are provided primarily for those with no means.
