Vol. 486 No. 4
109 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when the present limit of £75,000 for the value of a house sale disregarded for non-contributory old age pension purposes was last revised; the current value that this limit would stand at if it were indexed in accordance with the index of house prices published by the Department of the Environment and Local Government; and his views on the need for a revision of this limit. [2890/98]
Regulations, which came into effect in October 1991, provide that where a pensioner, or a person of pension age in receipt of a means tested payment from the Department, sells his or her principal residence and either buys or rents alternative accommodation or moves into a private nursing home, the income derived from the sale shall be exempted from the means test in relation to the pension, or other relevant payment, up to a limit of £75,000. Where the applicant has a spouse he-she must also be over 66.
In relation to statistics published by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the average price of second hand houses for which loans were approved has risen from £51,452 in 1992 to £67,438 in 1996. This relates to the country as a whole and there may be substantial divergences between different areas. As can be seen the £75,000 limit was above average in relation to average house prices as calculated by the Department of the Environment during that period. I have no proposal to revise the limit but I will be keeping the matter under review.
110 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork is being refused unemployment benefit in view of the fact that she is working only two to three days per week, is unavailable for further work if so offered by her employer and other individuals in similar circumstances are being paid unemployment benefit. [2892/98]
Having been employed on a full-time basis the person concerned voluntarily moved to part-time working which resulted in a reduction in wages. She made a claim for unemployment benefit on 23 April 1997. Following investigation her claim was disallowed by a deciding officer on the grounds that she was not available for and genuinely seeking full-time employment. This decision was upheld on appeal. An appeals officer's decision is final in the absence of new facts or fresh evidence.
