Vol. 473 No. 1
282 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will waive any responsibility that a person (details supplied) in County Mayo is deemed to have subsequent to an overpayment of an old age pension to his mother in view of the fact that the family believes the overpayment was not justified due to the fact that their mother told the truth and the person in question is under psychiatric care and this is causing him distress and worry. [24335/96]
The late mother of the person concerned was in receipt of an old age non-contributory pension which is a means-tested payment. When assessing a person's means for pension purposes the Department must take account of any savings, investments, property or income, including any other pension, which the person may have. Old age non-contributory pension application forms include a request to notify the Department of all means held at date of application and of all increases in such means subsequently.
Personal representatives of deceased non-contributory social welfare pensioners are legally obliged to inform my Department beforehand of their intention to distribute the estate. In December 1995, following receipt of the schedule of assets of the deceased person concerned, it emerged that the person had a significant sum of capital which had not been disclosed to the Department, at the initial means investigation stage or subsequently, as is required under the legislation.
In the light of this, her pension entitlement was reviewed by the Department and it was decided on the basis of the information available that the deceased person should not have been entitled to any old age non-contributory pension. An overpayment of £5,487.30 has arisen as a result of this revised decision. The personal representative was notified of his right of appeal against, but he has not done so.
In accordance with the Department's Code of Practice on Overpayments, the personal representative and his solicitor have also been notified of the amount of the overpayment due and have been asked for their response to the Department's proposal for recovery by way of lump-sum repayment from the assets of the estate. No response has been received by the Department so far. In accordance with the normal practice in such cases, the Department must now consider legal proceedings to recover the overpayment due.
In view of the circumstances mentioned by the Deputy, I am arranging for an inspector of the Department to contact the people concerned before taking any further action.
