Vol. 438 No. 1
61 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he has completed his review of the £60 limit determining eligibility to be regarded as an adult dependant in the social welfare code; and the plans, if any, he has to introduce graduated relief for those marginally in excess of this limit.
The weekly earnings limit for entitlement to the adult dependant allowance was increased from £55 to £60 in June 1993. People earning over £60 a week do not qualify as adult dependants on their spouses' social welfare payments.
The issue of a graduated relief for people marginally in excess of the £60 threshold was examined by the expert working group on the intergration of the tax and social welfare systems, which was established under the aegis of the Minister of State at my Department, in context of the commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government. After a preliminary examination of the issue the group concluded in its interim report that for administrative reasons it would not be feasible to address the question of graduated relief in the 1994 budget. The expert group does, however, intend to further examine this issue in the context of its final report.
