Jim O'Keeffe
Question:194 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the cost of extending free travel to all widows and widowers over the age of 60 years. [9578/98]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The free travel scheme is available to all persons in the State aged 66 years, or over, and also to certain people with disabilities under that age who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. In addition, widows and widowers, between the age of 60 and 65, whose late spouses had entitlement to free travel, retain that entitlement.
The scheme provides free travel, primarily at off-peak periods, to eligible people on the main public and private transport services. At the end of last January, about 505,000 people qualified for free travel at an annual cost of £33 million.
The full year cost of extending the free travel scheme, as requested by the Deputy, is estimated at £1.4 million. Any additional expenditure along these lines could only be examined in a budgetary context.
Michael Ring
Question:195 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will extend the free fuel allowance until the end of April 1998 due to the extremely cold weather. [9580/98]
The national fuel scheme assists certain householders who are in receipt of long-term social welfare or health board payments and who are unable to provide for their own heating needs. A payment of £5 per week is paid to eligible households for 26 weeks of each year. An additional £3 per week smokeless fuel allowance is payable during the heating season to fuel recipients in Dublin and Cork. This extra allowance is to assist recipients in meeting the increased costs of buying smokeless fuel in urban areas where there is a ban on the sale of bituminous coal for environmental reasons.
In recognition of the fact that it can be unpredictably cold in autumn and spring, the scheme is not confined to the winter months but runs for six months of the year, from mid-October to mid-April.
During the fuel season which has just ended, temperatures were above average in each month from October to March, significantly so in February and March. Temperatures did drop in April but have now risen again. The estimated cost of extending the fuel season to the end of April would be £5.4 million. This could only be considered in a budgetary context.
In addition to the national fuel scheme there is a facility available through the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme to assist people in certain circumstances who have special heating needs. Under that scheme a person who has exceptional heating costs due to ill health or infirmity may qualify for a heating supplement. This can be paid as a weekly supplement in addition to other social welfare payments. An application for a heating supplement may be made by contacting the local community welfare officer at the local health centre.
Where a person would not normally qualify for a heating supplement there is provision under the SWA scheme to pay an exceptional needs payment, ENP. The purpose of ENPs is to help prevent hardship by providing for essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which applicants could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. ENPs are payable at the discretion of the health board taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.