Vol. 563 No. 6
19 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will review the fuel allowance which is totally inadequate and, due to recent increases in fuel costs, has become even more inadequate to meet the needs of those who rely on it. [8433/03]
38 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the contingencies her Department has made to adjust the rate of the smokeless fuel allowance in view of threatening increases in world energy prices. [8408/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 38 together.
The aim of the national fuel scheme is to assist householders who are in receipt of long-term social welfare or health board payments and who are unable to provide fully for their own heating needs.
The smokeless fuel allowance was introduced in October 1990, to assist people with the additional costs arising from the ban on the sale of bituminous coal in certain designated areas.
This ban currently covers designated areas in Dublin, Cork, Arklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Celbridge, Leixlip and Naas. Later this year, it is intended to extend the ban to include Bray, Kilkenny, Sligo and Tralee.
A fuel allowance payment of €9.00 per week is paid to eligible households while an additional €3.90 per week is paid in smokeless zones, bringing the total amount in those areas to €12.90 per week. These payments are made for the duration of the fuel season which lasts for 29 weeks. The current fuel season will end on 18 April.
The fuel allowances represent a contribution towards a person's normal heating and lighting expenses. In addition many households also qualify for electricity and gas allowances.
The fuel allowance scheme has been improved in recent budgets. The means test has been eased and the duration of payment increased from 26 weeks to 29 weeks.
The significant increases in recent years in primary social welfare payment rates, such as the old age pension, have also improved the income position for people dependent on the social welfare system. Primary payment rates are payable for the full 52 weeks of the year and increases in these rates benefit a wider range of recipients.
The question of further increases in the rates of fuel allowance would be a matter for consideration in a budgetary context.
20 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the provisions of her announcement regarding the provision of a free private phone line for nursing home residents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8478/03]
33 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the costs involved in extending free telephone rental to residents of nursing homes; and her plans to extend further benefits to these residents. [8402/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 33 together.
The telephone allowance which is part of the household benefits package, is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. It is also available to carers and people with disabilities under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain social welfare type payments. Since May 2001 the allowance is available to all persons aged 70 or over regardless of income or household composition.
Some 280,000 people receive the telephone allowance, at an estimated aggregate cost of over €78 million in 2003. The allowance covers the cost of line and instrument rental in full and a contribution towards call charges. It is worth up to €281.10 per annum, including VAT, to each qualified person. Once awarded, the allowance is credited to the qualified person's two-monthly Eircom telephone bill.
The primary objective of the telephone allowance when it was introduced originally in 1977 was to ensure that older people could summon help in an emergency. Since then the focus of the scheme has changed to seeking to encourage social contact and prevent social exclusion.
It is with these objectives in mind that I have now provided for an extension of the allowance to include certain residents in nursing homes. Under the arrangements introduced earlier this month, the allowance may be paid in respect of residents who are aged 70 years and over, have their own telephone line in the nursing home, and receive a telephone bill in their own name at the nursing home.
The new arrangements apply to all applications received after 1 January 2003 and, where entitlement exists, the allowance will be paid from the date of receipt of the application.
This latest improvement puts nursing home residents aged 70 years and over on an equal footing with people aged 70 years and over living in their own homes and availing of the telephone allowance regardless of income or household composition. I am also conscious of the social benefit that these changes will bring by enabling those residents who are entitled to the allowance to remain in contact with family and friends.
It is estimated that up to 5,500 people could benefit from this measure at an estimated additional cost of €1.55 million in 2003.
While residents of nursing homes may have access to their own private telephone line, it is unlikely that individual residents in a nursing home would have access to their personal electricity or natural gas supply. Also, in the case of the television licence, one licence covers any number of television sets in individual rooms within a nursing home.
