Vol. 483 No. 4
56 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will indicate the method used by his Department in establishing if a person in receipt of a social welfare benefit is alive or deceased; the plans, if any, he has to change the current system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20350/97]
In the normal course, to receive payment of a social welfare benefit, allowance or pension, a person is required to provide ongoing verification of entitlement, through submission of medical evidence, declaration of unemployment, signature of payment voucher, etc.
In cases where payment is made through post offices, it is restricted to one post office of the beneficiary's choice and the beneficiary is normally known to the staff of that office. The beneficiary is required to attend personally to obtain payment or, where this is not possible due to illness, he-she may provide written authority to a third party to receive payment on his-her behalf. The payment voucher and the written authority, where applicable, are subject to signature verification by the post office official. Paid vouchers are subject to a reconciliation process which selects cases, against previously determined norms, for review in relation to possible abuses.
A proportion of payments are made by direct electronic credit to a bank, building society or post office account in the name of the payee. In these cases, arrangements are in place for the financial institutions concerned to inform the Department as soon as they become aware of a client's death.
The Department carries out over 400,000 reviews each year which include home visits and mail shots to customers. These control mechanisms occasionally detect a client death that had not come to the Department's attention through other mechanisms but this is rare.
In addition to the measures outlined already, discussions are ongoing with the General Register Office (GRO) with a view to obtaining regular information relating to death registrations when that office's records become computerised.
About 20,000 pensioner deaths are notified to the Department each year. The Department is ususally informed quickly by the next-of-kin, and in some cases by the post office concerned. There are after-death pension entitlements available to the spouses of deceased pensioners, as well as death grant and widow(er)'s pension entitlements. The existence of these, and of the controls at the point of payment are effective in preventing abuses. The periodic reviews mentioned also provide safeguards against attempts to circumvent those controls.
The control of abuse is a high priority for my Department and the mechanisms to achieve this are kept under review in the light of experience.
58 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason for the reduction, after inflation has been taken into account, in the budget allocated to the Combat Poverty Agency in the 1998 Estimates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20555/97]
The abridged Estimates for Public Services (Abridged Version) and summary public capital programme provide for grantin-aid funding of £2,273,000 to the Combat Poverty Agency in 1998, representing an increase of £16,000 on the 1997 provision of £2,257,000.
This increase in funding in the 1998 Estimates arises from the additional pay costs in the agency's 1998 budget, to meet the agency's commitments under the terms of the PCW and Partnership 2000.
59 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of people who availed of a supplementary welfare payment in 1996; the average amount in each case; the most common reason for these payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20349/97]
120 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will give a breakdown for each health board area of the total supplementary welfare payments made to recipients in 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20735/97]
121 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number and value of cheques issued by community welfare officers under the supplementary welfare scheme to recipients in 1996; the total budget in 1996 for the supplementary welfare scheme and other supplementary welfare allowances. [20736/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 59, 120 and 121 together. Under the social welfare legislation every person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet his needs and the needs of any dependent of his has an entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance (SWA).
The purpose of the SWA scheme is to provide a basic weekly allowance to people who have little or no income. People with low incomes may also qualify for a weekly supplement to meet certain special needs including rent and mortgage interest supplements, a diet or heating supplement or an exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help with the cost of any exceptional needs they may have.
The total expenditure figures in respect of supplementary welfare allowance in 1996 are shown in the following tabular statement. The actual breakdown of payments for each health board are not yet finalised.
The number of beneficiaries and the number of recipients per health board are also set in the following tabular statements. Because of the number of different types of payments and supplements under the scheme it is not possible to give an average payment.
The most common request for assistance under the SWA scheme is in respect of rent and mortgage interest supplements.
Table 1
Expenditure on the SWA Scheme 1991 to 1996
|
Year |
Expenditure |
|
£m |
|
|
1991 |
74.3 |
|
1992 |
101.1 |
|
1993 |
110.0 |
|
1994 |
121.0 |
|
1995 |
134.2 |
|
1996 |
154.2 |
|
Type of Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
Eastern |
Midland |
Mid-Western |
North-Eastern |
North-Western(¹) |
South-Eastern |
Southern |
Western |
Total |
|
Basic Payment(²) |
|||||||||
|
Recipients |
6,900 |
1,419 |
1,863 |
1,353 |
1,400 |
1,840 |
2,442 |
2,297 |
19,514 |
|
Adult Dependants |
1,397 |
400 |
431 |
380 |
390 |
582 |
470 |
481 |
4,531 |
|
Child Dependants |
5,801 |
1,265 |
1,554 |
1,155 |
1,200 |
1,629 |
1,922 |
1,574 |
16,100 |
|
Total |
14,098 |
3,084 |
3,848 |
2,888 |
2,990 |
4,051 |
4,834 |
4,352 |
40,145 |
|
Total Supplementary Welfare Allowances(³) |
|||||||||
|
All Persons |
34,006 |
3,185 |
4,267 |
3,325 |
3,200 |
5,088 |
9,672 |
7,434 |
70,177 |
|
Adult Dependants |
6,883 |
898 |
986 |
3,325 |
3,200 |
5,088 |
9,672 |
7,434 |
70,177 |
|
Adult Dependants |
6,883 |
898 |
986 |
935 |
900 |
1,300 |
2,305 |
1,557 |
15,764 |
|
Child Dependants |
28,591 |
2,839 |
3,560 |
2,839 |
2,800 |
4,506 |
7,614 |
5,094 |
57,843 |
|
Total |
69,480 |
6,922 |
8,813 |
7,099 |
6,900 |
10,894 |
19,591 |
14,085 |
143,784 |
|
Type of Supplementary Welfare Allowance |
Eastern |
Midland |
Mid-Western |
North-Eastern |
North-Western(¹) |
South-Eastern |
Southern |
Western |
Total |
|
Basic Payment |
25,477 |
6,868 |
8,770 |
6,784 |
6,600 |
9,397 |
12,069 |
10,549 |
86,514 |
|
Supplements: |
|||||||||
|
Rent |
34,198 |
2,793 |
5,079 |
3,208 |
2,900 |
4,674 |
17,414 |
8,987 |
79,253 |
|
L.A. Mortgage(³) |
3,107 |
221 |
339 |
574 |
270 |
722 |
1,171 |
727 |
7,131 |
|
Other Mortgage |
4,499 |
166 |
508 |
744 |
160 |
350 |
1,645 |
768 |
8,840 |
|
Heating |
846 |
96 |
91 |
96 |
90 |
135 |
294 |
106 |
1,754 |
|
Diet |
5,030 |
343 |
308 |
427 |
300 |
546 |
727 |
444 |
8,125 |
|
Other |
7,334 |
537 |
371 |
463 |
500 |
259 |
975 |
660 |
11,099 |
|
Exceptional Needs Payments |
50,823 |
2,895 |
5,946 |
4,121 |
3,300 |
6,673 |
11,251 |
6,523 |
91,532 |
|
Urgent Needs Payments |
204 |
8 |
38 |
33 |
30 |
106 |
51 |
47 |
517 |
|
Other S.W.A. |
3,200 |
3 |
12 |
55 |
20 |
15 |
105 |
67 |
3,477 |
60 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will make available free electricity and telephone rental allowances to all pensioners over 75 years of age regardless of means. [16489/97]
The free schemes, including the free electricity allowance and the free telephone rental allowance are available to people, usually aged 66 or over, who are in receipt of a welfare type payment and who are either living alone or who otherwise satisfy this condition. This condition is not, however, applied in the case of persons over age 75 who are in receipt of a qualifying payment.
Widows between the age of 60 and 65, whose late husbands had entitlements to the free schemes, retain that entitlement.
The free scheme included low-income pensioners who are not in receipt of a social welfare type payment. The weekly income limit fixed for this purpose is the maximum personal rate of old age (contributory) pension, currently £78 per week, plus any increases for dependants, plus £30.
To extend the free electricity allowance and the free telephone rental allowance to all people over the age of 75 would involve significant additional expenditure which could only be considered in a budgetary context.
