Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 May 2021
184. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the blind pension in each of the years 2010 to 2020 and to date in 2021; and the number of applications rejected due to means testing for the same time period in tabular form. [28526/21]
View answerBlind pension is a residency-based means tested payment paid to blind and visually impaired people between the age of 18 and 66 who are habitually resident in the State. There are currently 1,069 customers in receipt of blind pension.
The Department does not, in ordinary course, collate data on the specific grounds of disallowances in relation to the range of social assistance schemes it delivers.
I am advised, however, that based on the records available to my Department, the number of blind pension recipients at each year end from 2010 and at end April 2021, together with the estimated number of claims disallowed in the same periods due to household means exceeding the permissible limit, is as set out in the table below.
|
Year |
Number of Blind Pension recipients end of year |
Number of claims disallowed where means exceed the statutory limit |
|
2010 |
1,485 |
16 |
|
2011 |
1,496 |
31 |
|
2012 |
1,456 |
14 |
|
2013 |
1,385 |
9 |
|
2014 |
1,369 |
10 |
|
2015 |
1,341 |
10 |
|
2016 |
1,282 |
14 |
|
2017 |
1,246 |
13 |
|
2018 |
1,176 |
11 |
|
2019 |
1,136 |
7 |
|
2020 |
1,085 |
13 |
|
To end 04/2021 |
1,069 |
1 |
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
