Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 4 Apr 1995

Vol. 451 No. 5

Written Answers. - DPMA Statistics.

Máirín Quill

Question:

90 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Health, in respect of each health board area, the number of married couples in receipt of individual disabled person's maintenance allowance payments; the number of cohabiting couples in receipt of individual disabled person's maintenance allowance payments; the number of married couples where one spouse is in receipt of disabled person's maintenance allowance and the other is in receipt of a social welfare benefit or assistance; the number of cohabiting couples where one is in receipt of disabled person's maintenance allowance and the other is in receipt of a social welfare benefit or assistance; the number of married couples who are in receipt of the claimant's and adult dependant rate of disabled person's maintenance allowance; and the number of cohabiting couples where one cohabitee is in receipt of the claimant's and adult dependant rate of disabled person's maintenance allowance. [6868/95]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): As health board computerised records do not distinguish between married and cohabiting couples for disabled person's maintenance allowance, payments, compiling the information requested by the Deputy would require a manual examination of approximately 6,000 individual files in all of the various health board community care areas. As this would take considerable time and effort by a significant number of health board personnel, I do not propose at this stage to request the health boards to supply the information. I would hope that, when the disabled persons maintenance allowance scheme is transferred to the Department of Social Welfare, computerisation of disabled persons maintenance allowance records will facilitate the provision of this information.