Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2004
419 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when the rent supplement will be awarded to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13350/04]
View answerThe South Western Area Health Board was contacted regarding this case and has advised that the person concerned was requested to provide full details of her financial circumstances so that an accurate assessment of her means could be carried out. To date the full details have not been furnished. When the necessary information is provided, the board will determine whether or not a rent supplement is payable.
420 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her views on the anomaly which sees persons in similar positions with regard to receipt of the deserted wife’s benefit payment treated differently depending on the year they first applied for this payment; if this social welfare legislation frustrates equality legislation; and her views regarding an amelioration of this situation. [13424/04]
View answerDeserted wife's benefit is a payment made to a woman deserted by her husband. Entitlement to payment is based on social insurance contributions paid by the wife or her husband. An earnings limit was introduced for deserted wife's benefit in 1992. The limit, which applied only to new claims after August 1992, is currently €12, 697.38 a year, in terms of gross earnings. Where earnings are in excess of that figure, there may be entitlement to a reduced rate of payment of deserted wife's benefit, provided earnings do not exceed €17,776.33 a year in gross earnings. A no earnings limit applies where the claim was made on or before 30 August 1992.
A further change was introduced in 1997 when the scheme was closed to new applications with effect from 2 January 1997, on the introduction of the one-parent family payment. With the introduction of that scheme, the condition of desertion no longer applied. A parent with dependent children is eligible for benefits under the scheme, irrespective of gender or the circumstances that gave rise to the lone parenthood. Lone parents are encouraged under the scheme to maximise their income from different sources and the means test for the scheme makes provision for the exemption of earnings and maintenance payments.
With regard to employment, lone parents may earn up to €146.50 per week without affecting their payment. Earnings above this limit are assessed at 50%, up to a maximum of €293.00 per week. Lone parents are also eligible to avail of the full range of employment support schemes operated by my Department. The schemes for deserted wives under social insurance have been retained to the extent that existing entitlements already acquired in August 1992, when the earnings limit was introduced for new claimants, and in 1997, when the one parent family payment scheme was introduced have been preserved. All new claimants, irrespective of gender, who seek income support as lone parents, are treated equally.
