Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 May 1990

Vol. 399 No. 4

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Austin Deasy

Ceist:

74 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason for refusal of a free telephone rental allowance to a person (details supplied) in County Waterford in view of his serious medical condition and the fact that he is in receipt of an invalidity pension; and if he will have this decision reversed.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

In order to qualify for a free telephone rental allowance a person must be in receipt of one of a number of specified payments and reside alone or only with persons who come within certain excepted categories. These excepted categories are: children under the age of 15; and people who are so permanently incapacitated that they could not summon help in an emergency.

According to the information available to my Department, the person concerned is residing with his spouse and one daughter aged over 15 years of age. As they do not come within the excepted categories for satisfying the living alone condition of the scheme, he does not qualify for the allowance.

Seán Barrett

Ceist:

75 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the hardship caused to those whose social welfare entitlements have been reduced as a result of the new dependency arrangements which were brought into force in 1986 by the EC Equality Directive and whose social welfare increased in the last number of budgets have not kept pace with this reduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

When the new definition of dependency in line with the requirements of equal treatment was introduced in November 1986 an adult dependant allowance ceased to be payable in respect of any person who was in receipt of a social welfare payment in their own right or working and earning in excess of £50 per week. Also the rate of child dependant allowance payable to any recipient in these circumstances was reduced to half the standard rate.

Transitional alleviating payments were introduced to cushion the loss of the adult dependant allowance to the families involved. A payment of £20 per week was made to recipients where, at November 1986, both spouses were in receipt of a social welfare payment. Any child dependant allowance in this situation was split 50:50 between the two claimants. A payment of £10 per week was made to a person whose wife was working and could no longer qualify as a dependant and the claimant was allowed to retain the full child dependant allowance.

In addition, where both spouses were in receipt of a social welfare payment, and the husband was entitled to a £20 alleviating payment, he could also qualify for additional assistance, special equal treatment payment, in respect of rent, mortgage or agreements for the purchase of essential household goods entered into prior to the introduction of the new dependency arrangements in November 1986. The amount payable was the amount of the loss suffered by the family or of the reckonable outgoings whichever was the less.

The transitional payments when introduced were intended to last for 12 months only. In view, however, of the hardship that would have resulted for families by the abrupt ending of the payments, the Government decided that they should be phased out over a longer period, in line with annual budget increases. This method of reduction in the alleviating payment ensures that there is no overall loss of social welfare income to the household.

The £20 payment was reduced to £18 and to £16 in line with the increases in the 1988 and 1989 budgets respectively. The £10 element of the other alleviating payment was reduced to £9 and to £8 in these budgets. From end July 1990 the transitional payments will be £14 where both spouses are in receipt of a social welfare payment, and £7 plus half the child dependant allowance rate where the wife earns over £55 per week, increased from £50 from the beginning of June 1990. There has been no reduction in the special payments since their introduction in November 1986.