Vol. 438 No. 2
30 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he proposes to introduce a situation whereby the social welfare system would be neutral in its gender effects and its influence on people's personal choices of where to live, who to live with and their legal status as married or single people.
The Irish social welfare system fully complies with the requirements of EC Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment between men and women in matters of social security. The principal area not covered by this directive is the social protection of survivors. I was very pleased to announce, in this year's budget, the introduction of a new widower's contributory pension. Under the new arrangements, widows and widowers will be entitled to a contributory pension on a similar basis.
There is no discrimination against social welfare clients on the basis of where they live or whom they choose to live with. The only payments for which entitlement is directly linked to living arrangements are the living alone allowance and the carer's allowance. The former is paid to those aged over 66 in response to the special needs which arises from living alone. The latter is paid to those caring for people who need full-time care and attention and thus require the carer to live with them.
The Deputy may be referring to the assessment of "Benefit and Privilege". The purpose of the assessment is to achieve a degree of equity as between applicants who have the benefit of living at home and those who do not. The method of assessment targets scarce resources to those most in need. In the 1991 budget a minimum payment of £5 was introduced where the claimant was entitled to a payment and where the only means were derived from benefit and privilege. I am pleased that I have been able to double that minimum payment to £10 from July next.
The social welfare system does not discriminate between couples according to whether they have chosen to live as a married or cohabitating couple. Increases of benefits in respect of adult dependants are payable on the same basis, whether the couple are married or cohabitating. Personal entitlements to social insurance payments are not affected by marital status. Under the social assistance scheme which is based on need, the levels of payment are determined on the basis of the needs of the household, whether the couple are married or cohabitating.
