asked the Minister for Social Welfare when an increase of £1 per week in the old age pension will be granted to a person (name supplied) in County Meath who applied for it on 23rd September, 1973; and the reason for the delay.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Meath Old Age Pensioners.
4.
This person has been in receipt of an old age (non-contributory) pension at the weekly rate of £6.65 since last July when his pension was increased by £1.50 a week. This is the maximum rate of pension payable where a beneficiary has attained the age of 80 years, as in this case, and, therefore, it cannot be increased. There is no record in my Department of an application for an increase in pension by the person concerned.
Did the Parliamentary Secretary say he was awarded £1 last July?
£1.50 last July.
Did that take into account the fact that he was 80 years at that stage?
The present rate payable is the maximum rate.
5.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare when an allowance book for the old age contributory pension which was awarded on 6th July, 1973, to a person (name supplied) in County Meath will be issued; and the reason for the delay.
An old age contributory pension was awarded to the person referred to in the Deputy's question on 17th September, 1973, retrospective to 6th July, 1973. The person concerned continued to be paid disability benefit up to 22nd September, 1973, and a pension order book containing orders from 28th September, 1973, was sent to her local post office on 28th November, 1973. Payment of arrears due, after deduction of the amount of disability benefit already paid to her, will be made this week.
The delay is attributable to extreme pressure of work arising from the reduction of pensionable age to 69 with effect from 2nd July, 1973, and in this particular case, to the need to establish the amount of other benefit paid to the claimant subsequent to 6th July, 1973.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary not consider that it took too long to do this work? There could not have been enough pressure to hold it up for practically three months.
While the delay in transferring from one pension to another was approximately the period the Deputy has mentioned, this does not mean that the person was not in receipt of benefit for that period. The person was in receipt of the same monetary benefit for most of that period although there was some delay which is regretted.