Vol. 519 No. 4
102 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the total budget allocated and the amount of moneys spent by the Southern Health Board on supplementary welfare allowance in 1998 and 1999; the guidelines, if any, issued with regard to income limits when the supplementary welfare allowance is being administered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14028/00]
The supplementary welfare allowance – SWA – scheme provides entitlement to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The main objective of the scheme is to make up the difference between a person's means and their needs. Where a person has access to some resources this is taken into account in determining entitlement to SWA.
The amount of basic SWA payable is the difference between the person's means and the minimum weekly income prescribed in legislation for the household type in question. Increases in these prescribed amounts, and consequently in the payment rates, are announced in the budget each year. This year the payment rate for a single person increased by £4 per week and the payment rate for a couple increased by £7.80 per week.
Under the SWA scheme people can receive assistance in the form of a basic payment, a supplement such as rent or mortgage or an exceptional needs payment, ENP.
In the case of exceptional needs payments each case is considered individually and the level of payment is made accordingly.
104 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will ensure that the spouse of a deceased person receives that pension for six weeks following the persons death even where the survivor already has a pre-retirement or other pension. [14004/00]
There are various schemes within the social welfare system to assist families in dealing with death and funeral expenses.
These include the payment of six weeks social welfare following the death of certain social welfare recipients or their spouse, the payment of a bereavement grant to insured people and their families and the payment of a funeral grant under the occupational injuries benefit.
Since this Government came into office, I have introduced a number of important changes to improve these arrangements. These include: an enhanced bereavement grant of £500 in 1999; the introduction of a once-off payment of £1,000 payable to widows and widowers with dependent children who qualify for a widow(er's) contributory pension, one-parent family payment or a bereavement grant in budget 2000; and a number of additional measures in this year's Social Welfare Act to address the position where the six weeks after death payment was not made or was paid at a reduced amount.
A person in receipt of a pre-retirement allowance receives an additional amount equal to the qualified adult allowance when their spouse was in receipt of a carer's allowance, old age non-contributory pension or blind persons pension. However, if the deceased spouse was in receipt of an unemployment or disability payment, invalidity pension, supplementary welfare allowance, pre-retirement allowance or unemployability supplement, the survivor does not receive any extra payment in addition to his or her own payment. The current arrangements will be reviewed in a budgetary context.
105 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the intention, if any, he has to improve the income disregards for working lone parents in view of the fact that the £12,000 limit has not been improved for some time. [14005/00]
Under the means test associated with the one-parent family payment – OFP – a lone parent is allowed to earn up to £115.38 per week without affecting his-her payment. Earnings between £115.38 per week and £230.76 are assessed at 50%. Payment ceases when earnings exceed £230.76 per week though there are transitional arrangements in place whereby a lone parent who exceeds the upper income limit may retain 50% of his-her entitlement for a further 12 months.
The income disregards aim to encourage lone parents to consider employment as an alternative to long-term welfare dependency and are also intended to recognise the particular difficulties and expenses which lone parents often face in participating in employment and training. The extent to which the income disregards are meeting their objectives is currently being examined as part of a review of the OFP under the Department's expenditure review programme. It is expected that this review will be completed in the next couple of months and changes to the OFP scheme will be considered in the light of the findings of the review group.
106 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will support the full cost of hearing aids to people with hearing disability; and the current levels of support for this health aid. [14006/00]
The treatment benefits scheme administered by my Department provides assistance towards the cost of dental, optical and audiology services to people, and their dependent spouses, who satisfy the relevant statutory PRSI conditions.
In the case of hearing aids, my Department pays half the cost subject to a maximum of £250 per hearing aid. In addition, it pays up to half the cost of any repairs. In 1999, some 3,000 insured persons and 923 dependent spouses benefited under the scheme.
The level of payment under the scheme is kept under constant review and increases have been made in recent years in the maximum amount payable under the scheme. Any further changes to the scheme would have to be considered in a budgetary context.
107 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of people who benefited from the changes in the contributory pension that allowed those with five years and more payments to get 50% old age pension; the total annual cost of this change; and his intentions, if any, to recognise those who paid up to ten years on a pro rata basis and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14009/00]
I understand that the Deputy is referring to the pension arrangements which I introduced in last year's Social Welfare Act for those self-employed people who were 56 years of age or over in April 1988, when social insurance was extended to the self-employed, and who failed to qualify for a pension as they did not satisfy the standard requirement of having entered insurance at least ten years before pension age.
From April 1999 a special old age contributory pension is available to those self employed people who were aged 56 or over in April 1988 and who have at least five years contributions paid since then. Payment is at a flat rate of 50% of the standard maximum rate with equivalent increases for adult and child dependants, where applicable.
The rationale behind this five-year paid contribution condition is to ensure that entitlement to a pension is limited to those who have made some reasonable level of contributions to the social insurance fund during the course of their careers.
I consider these arrangements to be a fair and sympathetic response to the predicament of some people who, through no fault of their own, could not qualify for a pension in accordance with the standard qualifying conditions.
To date 3,414 claims for the special reduced rate old age contributory pension for the self-employed have been awarded, at an annual cost of almost £11 million.
