Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 May 1997

Vol. 479 No. 2

Written Answers. - Lone Parent's Allowance.

Joe Walsh

Question:

264 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on whether approximately 70 per cent of single mothers claiming lone parent's allowance have cohabiting partners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12697/97]

Joe Walsh

Question:

265 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on whether a high proportion of those claiming the lone parent's allowance as deserted spouses are not deserted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12698/97]

Joe Walsh

Question:

266 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on whether almost two-thirds of those claiming the living alone allowance are not in fact living alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12699/97]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 264, 265 and 266 together.

The day-to-day management of new claims for payments and their subsequent review incorporates a developed structure of measures designed to prevent and to detect cases of abuse and fraud. These procedures and practices consist of general checking of applications and claims in payment, and targeted inspections of certain high-risk categories and groups of claimants. Such practices would not suggest the levels of abuse referred to by the Deputy.

In 1996, a total of 27,200 new claims from deserted wives, lone parents and widow(er)s were received out of which 164 were rejected on grounds of co-habitation following investigation. A further 6,500 claims in these categories were reviewed during 1996, where there were grounds for suspicion. Just over 1,000 of these claims were terminated due to cohabitation equivalent to 16 per cent. The scale of cohabitation identified in these reviews is not considered to be indicative for the lone parent client group as a whole because the reviews were targeted at cases where there were grounds for doing so.

The question of proving desertion was always a contentious and difficult area. Before a claim from a deserted wife was allowed, it had to be established that desertion had occurred, in that she had been living apart from her husband for at least three months, that her husband had left her of his own volition and that she was making appropriate efforts to seek maintenance from him. This invariably required detailed investigation by local officers of the Department, involving interviews with the wives concerned and with their husbands where they were traceable. This often proved difficult and in many cases led to renewed personal difficulties between the spouses concerned. The new one-parent family payment which commenced on 2 January 1997 no longer seeks to prove desertion as a qualifying condition but instead provides income support on a needs basis for parents with dependent children who are separated, unmarried or widowed.

There are 100,000 social welfare clients in receipt of a living alone allowance, the vast majority of which are elderly or widowed people. The rules allow pensioners living in specific housing arrangements such as "granny flats" or certain types of sheltered housing complexes to qualify for the allowance. Over 8,000 old age and widowed pension claims were reviewed by the Department in 1996, as part of a general reassessment of their continuing entitlement to pension. These reviews normally encompass a reassessment of household composition in order to verify ongoing eligibility for various free scheme supplements and the living alone allowance where payable. These specific reviews resulted in cessation of living alone allowance in just 335 cases during the year (4 per cent). Overall, nearly 3,200 living alone allowances were terminated during 1996 for a wide variety of reasons, including routine review and change of pensioner circumstances, including the death of a pensioner.

A sum of £15.2 million savings on deserted wife's benefit and allowance and on lone parent's allowance were made in 1996.

The Deputy can be assured that all steps necessary are taken to ensure that payments are confined to those who are legally entitled to them.