asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that 29/- per week is the maximum allowance payable by county health authorities to a patient suffering from tuberculosis on release from a sanatorium should such patient be unmarried; and if, in view of the decreased purchasing power of money, he will consider increasing the allowance to enable such patients to purchase the necessary foods and nourishment as prescribed for them on release from sanatoria.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tuberculosis Allowance.
The maximum allowance payable under the Infectious Diseases (Maintenance) Regulations, 1952, to an unmarried person resident outside a county borough area who is undergoing domiciliary treatment for tuberculosis is ordinarily 29/- per week. This rate of allowance was increased from 25/- to 29/- per week as recently as last October, and the increased scale of allowances then granted compares favourably with the ordinary social welfare benefits payable to sick and able-bodied persons. The amending regulations which provided for the increased scale of allowances also authorised the grant of an additional allowance towards rent if the recipient of an allowance, before he became ill, paid, or contributed substantiallytowards, the rent of the house in which he ordinarily resides.
In these circumstances it is not, at present, proposed to provide for any further increase in the scale of these allowances.
asked the Minister for Health whether he is aware that the wife of a patient suffering from tuberculosis in Ardkeen Sanatorium, County Waterford, has been refused the usual allowance given to such patients; and, if so, if he will take steps to investigate the circumstances under which such a decision was come to and, if necessary, instruct the local authority concerned to renew the allowance.
The person referred to in the Deputy's question had already appealed to me in regard to the payment to her of an allowance under the Infectious Diseases (Maintenance) Regulations, 1952, and I am in correspondence with the health authority in the matter. I will notify the Deputy of the decision on the appeal, which I expect will be given in the very near future.