Vol. 443 No. 3
30 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health the action, if any, he proposes to take in regard to the case of a person (details supplied) in County Meath who has been told that she will lose the allowance that she is receiving because of a mental disability if she gets married.
Under the current disabled person's maintenance regulations, health boards must take account of the applicant's total income and that of his/her spouse when considering entitlement to disabled person's maintenance allowance. In the circumstances outlined in the Deputy's question the income, if any, of the spouse would be taken into account when assessing eligibility for disabled person's maintenance allowance.
As payment of disabled person's maintenance allowance in any individual case is a matter for the health board concerned, the Deputy's question has been referred to the chief executive officer, North Eastern Health board with a request that he examine the matter and reply directly to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
