Vol. 479 No. 2
260 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social Welfare when the result of a medical examination for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will become available in support of his application for a disability allowance. [12450/97]
The person concerned applied for diability allowance on 6 November 1996. At a medical examination conducted on 18 February 1997 the medical assessor considered that the person concerned did not satisfy the medical criteria for receipt of disability allowance and a deciding officer made a decision disallowing the claim.
The person's appeal against the decision was received at the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 14 April 1997 and he was examined by a different medical assessor on 28 April 1997 who also considered that he did not satisfy the medical criteria necessary for receipt of the allowance. The person concerned has been notified of the result of the latest medical examination and he has been invited to submit any further evidence he wishes in support of his appeal. On receipt of this the case will be referred to an appeals officer for consideration.
261 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he has satisfied himself that widows and widowers are treated in an equitable manner when compared with other social welfare recipients. [12269/97]
The widow's and widower's pension scheme recognises the financial difficulties that may arise for people who are bereaved by the death of their spouse.
The qualification conditions for a widow's and a widower's (contributory) pension are less onerous than those pertaining to other social welfare pensions reflecting the different nature of the contingencies.
To qualify for a widow's or widower's (contributory) pension a person may use the full insurance record or the record over the previous three of five years to satisfy the yearly average condition. Also a widow or widower can qualify on his-her own or their late spouse's record.
On the 2 January 1997 I introduced a one-parent family payment for one parent families which includes widows and widowers with children. An earnings disregard of up to £6,000 is available under this programme, which is designed to make employment a more attractive option for those parenting alone, with a view to helping people move away from dependency on social welfare in the longer-term.
I refer the Deputy to my reply of 25 February 1997 — Question No. 250 — in which I provided details of those measures, which improve the position of widows and widowers, as announced in my budget speech of 23 January 1997, such as: £3.00 a week increase in personal rates and £1.50 a week in the qualified adult allowances from next June; a new widower's non-contributory pension is being introduced on the same basis as that currently applying to widows without children; easing of the means test — along the lines of the revised assessment for those in receipt on the one parent-family payment — including the exemption of rental income in certain circumstances; improvements to the free schemes including free electricity allowance, free telephone rental allowance and the free travel companion pass; and increase in child benefit for widowed persons with children.
Free travel is available to all persons in the State aged 66 years, or over, and also to certain disabled people under the age of 66. The other free schemes are available to people, usually 66 or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment and who are either living alone or who otherwise satisfy the living alone condition. In addition, widows between the age of 60 and 65 whose late husbands had entitlement to the free schemes retain that entitlement notwithstanding their age.
I consider that widows and widowers are treated in an equitable way within the social welfare system. If the Deputy has a particular case in mind, he may wish to give me the details so that it can be investigated to ensure that the person is in receipt of his-her full entitlements.
