Vol. 378 No. 6
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of people who have had their entitlement to social welfare disability benefit withdrawn because of the changes in the contribution conditions between the period 1 January 1988 and 31 January 1988.
19.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of women who have had their entitlement to social welfare disability benefit withdrawn because of changes in contribution conditions between 1 January 1988 and 31 January 1988.
43.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of men who have had their entitlement to social welfare disability benefit withdrawn because of the changes in the contribution conditions between the period 1 January 1988 and 31 January 1988.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 19 and 43 together.
From 4 January 1988 claimants to disability benefit are required to have at least 260 contributions paid in order to qualify for payment beyond 52 weeks. This requirement did not apply to a claimant who had, on that date, already been paid benefit for 52 weeks. A total of 66 claimants — 21 men and 45 women — who completed 52 weeks on benefit after 4 January 1988 failed to qualify for continued payment as they had less than 260 paid contributions.
16.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the amount saved in 1987 and 1988 as a result of the freezing of the child benefit in those years.
The 1988 Estimates provided some £213 million for the continued payment of child benefit on the same basis as heretofore. The cost of increasing child benefit rates by 3 per cent in line with increases in weekly social welfare payments would have been £3.2 million, in either 1987 or 1988.
