Vol. 396 No. 2
40 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of men who applied to date for the deserted husband's allowance; the number of applications granted; the number refused; the number still being considered; if he will consider amending the regulations in order that male applicants can qualify on the same basis as for deserted wife's payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
107 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social Welfare in relation to the deserted husband's allowance (a) the number of applicants who are being paid a reduced rate because of the means test and (b) the number of applicants who were disqualified from receiving the allowance because they were working; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 40 and 107 together.
The number of men who have applied for the allowance to date is 468 while the number of applications for the widowers' pension is 637. All current social welfare provisions for lone parent families are being reviewed by my Department at present. Any possible developments for deserted husbands specifically will be considered in this context.
Awards have been made in 14 of the deserted husband's allowance cases. Eighteen claims have been rejected and a further 18 have been withdrawn by applicants. There are 418 applications still under consideration. Approximately 300 of these are at present under investigation by the local officers of my Department. The remaining applications are awaiting further information before the claim can be processed.
Where payments are awarded they will apply from the date of application. To qualify for this allowance an applicant has to establish that he has been deserted and has made reasonable efforts where appropriate. In the majority of cases, the necessary investigations are not yet completed.
To date, there are no applicants for deserted husbands' allowance being paid at a reduced rate because of other means. Two applicants have been disqualified from receiving the allowance because they had means over the specified level from employment.
