asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary has been deemed ineligible for an old age pension.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
46.
An appeals officer decided on 10 February 1987 that the person concerned is not entitled to a non-contributory old age pension on the grounds that his means, consisting of the weekly value of land and capital, exceed the statutory limit.
Social welfare legislation provides that, if it appears that a person has directly or indirectly deprived himself of any income or property in order to qualify for a pension, the yearly value of that income or property shall be taken to be part of his means. The transfer of a substantial sum of capital to the applicant's nephew and members of his family was deemed to have been done in order to qualify the applicant for a pension and the amount involved was accordingly included in his means for the purpose of the application.