Vol. 441 No. 1
66 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he has satisfied himself with the arrangements for payment of unemployment benefit to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 10; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As part of the Department's strategy of improving its level of service for unemployed persons a new system of payment for people engaged in casual employment is being introduced. Under these new arrangements clients are paid weekly by cheque and the requirement to attend local Social Welfare office each week to sign-on is removed.
It is important to note that clients do not suffer a loss of payment in the changeover to the new system. What in fact occurs is a change in the clients payday from Wednesday to the following Tuesday. While it is accepted that this means a delay in the payment due during the changeover period, this is a once-off situation associated with the introduction of the new and improved procedures. These procedures are beneficial to the client as they eliminate the need to attend their local Social Welfare office each week to sign-on and be paid.
67 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he will give consideration to paying a petrol allowance to those entitled to free transport but who, because of their location, cannot make use of this facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The free travel scheme operated by my Department is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years of age or over as well as certain incapacitated people in receipt of social welfare type payments. The scheme provides free travel at off-peak periods for eligible people on the main public and private transport services. Those include road, rail and ferry services provided by semi-State companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as services provided by private contractors. The scope of the free travel scheme has been expanded over the years both in relation to the number of routes covered and the concessions made available to people with disabilities such as the free travel companion pass which I introduced in 1990.
68 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he will give consideration to the payment of carer's allowance for a period of up to six weeks to a carer following the death of the person being cared for in circumstances where the carer was full-time; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The carer's allowance introduced in 1990 provided, for the first time, for a direct payment to be made to the carer on a means-tested basis. It is provided for people who are providing elderly or incapaciated pensioners with full-time care and attention and whose income falls below certain limits.
Under existing provisions, where one of a married couple is in receipt of carer's allowance by virtue of caring for his or her spouse and the spouse being cared for dies, payment of the carer's allowance ceases with effect from the date of death. However, the carer, if he/she would otherwise have been a dependant of the deceased pensioner, is entitled to receive the personal rate of pension, together with the adult dependant allowance, to which the pensioner was entitled, for a period of six weeks after the date of death.
69 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will extend child benefit by at least one year to take account of the fact that the Department of Education have now introduced a compulsory transition year into schools, as a result of which most children will be well past their 18th birthday by the time they leave school.
Child benefit can be paid up to the age of 18 where the young person concerned is in full-time education. This covers the majority of cases in this age group.
I have previously stated my intention of developing child benefit as the main element of child income support. Therefore I have, concentrated on improving the rates of benefit payable. Thus, in the 1993 budget, the monthly rates were increased to £20 for each of the first three children and £23 per child thereafter. This year the higher rate of £23 is being increased to £25 and in addition is being applied to the third and subsequent children.
It is estimated that the extension of payment of child benefit for a further year would cost in the region of £8 million annually and would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
