Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Jul 2001

Vol. 540 No. 2

Written Answers. - Funeral Grant Scheme.

Austin Currie

Question:

40 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will make a statement on the operation of the funeral grant scheme; and the number of grants approved in each year since its establishment. [19739/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

I understand that the Deputy's question refers to my Department's bereavement grant scheme. This scheme was introduced on 2 February 1999 as a replacement for the former death grant scheme. The scheme is designed to alleviate the cost of funeral expenses and provide for significant improvements in the following areas: an increase from £100 to £500 in the level of the grant; extension of the scheme to include the self-employed and people covered by the modified rate of social insurance e.g. public servants – previously the scheme was largely confined to employees paying a full rate PRSI contribution; a substantial easement of the contribution conditions to ensure that as many people as possible would qualify; and the automatic entitlement to the grant on the death of a person receiving a contributory pension or his or her spouse or qualified dependants, or a person receiving orphan's contributory allowance or his or her guardian.

Following the introduction of the new scheme, the number of bereavement grants made increased from 9,675 in 1998 to almost 22,000 in 2000. In 1998, expenditure on the old funeral grant scheme amounted to £958,000. This increased to almost £11 million in 2000. The total number of grants awarded and the expenditure on the scheme for each year since its introduction is as follows:

Awards	Expenditure
1999 . 14,098	£7.049 million
2000 . 21,707	£10.854 million
2001* . 8,786	£4.393 million
Total . 44,591	£22.296 million

*Period 01.01.2001 to 31.05.2001.

My Department makes every effort to issue bereavement grants as quickly as possible after a death has occurred. In most cases, this can take an average of three weeks.

The five-fold increase in the grant, together with the expanded coverage of the scheme and the easement of the qualifying conditions, was welcomed by families who had to bear the brunt of funeral expenses at this particularly traumatic time. The bereavement grant scheme is an affirmation of the importance placed by this Government on reducing the hardship and financial worries which sudden loss of income can cause.