Vol. 402 No. 10
12 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he intends extending deserted husband's entitlement to the contributory benefits which are at present available to deserted wives; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The new lone parent's allowance scheme, which comes into operation next week, provides for equal treatment for all men and women on social assistance who are bringing up children on their own without the support of a partner.
As far as social insurance is concerned, deserted wife's benefit is, like the widow's contributory pension, based on the view that, where widowhood or desertion occurs women were generally much more in need of income support than men. Traditionally women retired from the workforce after getting married, to look after home and family on a full-time basis. The schemes for widows and deserted wives were designed to provide such women with a replacement income in the event of the death or desertion of the husband on whom the majority of the women concerned and their children mainly depended for income support. This situation has changed in recent times with the increasing participation of married women in the workforce on a full-time basis.
The question of extending equal treatment to areas of the social welfare code other than those covered by existing equality legislation is under consideration in the context of a further proposed EC directive relating to equal treatment. The application of equal treatment in relation to deserted wife's benefit and the conditions under which this might be done will be considered in the light of the outcome of these discussions.
The aspect that worries me is the discrimination against the children of deserted husbands. Obviously the Minister concedes that in terms of equality of the sexes there is a great inequality here. If we are to wait for an EC directive we could be waiting a long time. What action does the Minister propose to take in the short term to rectify the situation?
I have taken the very major step in recent times of providing a widowers' allowance scheme. We have now in our assistance schemes equal treatment across the board.
In relation to the insurance funded schemes, that is obviously a question of the cost of the insurance, the changes which can be made within the insurance fund and the future costs involved. The EC is working on a directive and the reason for the delay is the difficulty in concluding that directive. We are interested in seeing that concluded and we look forward to it being advanced to a point where something can be done on it.
Some husbands are forced out of the workforce if they are deserted and, having paid contributions to social welfare over many years, would the Minister not agree that they should be entitled to extra income from deserted husband's benefit so that they can continue in the workplace and provide proper child care facilities while they are working so that when the children are beyond that stage there is a much better income in the household and those children would have a much better chance in life?
I agree with the sentiments the Deputy expresses and one would be anxious to ensure that where a husband is deserted or widowed he has at least the same level of assistance and support.
Under the deserted husbands scheme which we have introduced under the lone parent's allowance scheme or the widower's scheme which is now under the lone parent's allowance scheme there is equal treatment across the board and that includes certain allowances related to the number of children, travel expenses to work and allowances for child care. People are not always as aware of that as they might be and that can bring the limits up considerably higher than they might at first appear. I would naturally be anxious to raise those limits as much as possible in terms of the assistance given to men in that situation to facilitate them staying in the workforce.
The insurance based scheme is a separate question and a major one in financial terms and in terms of the implications for the systems generally. That is why there is some difficulty in concluding that EC directive.
I welcome the introduction of the deserted husband's allowance, but is the Minister aware of another anomaly that arose when the Department refunded moneys in error? These moneys were not paid out to applicants and were misappropriated by the health board afterwards and put towards mortgage subsidies, etc. This relates to a particular matter, so I will bring it to the Minister's attention, but it creates a problem.
That seems to be a separate matter.
It is, and if the Deputy will let me have the details I will certainly follow it up.
13 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the serious difficulties and delays being experienced by free telephone rental allowance recipients in having their allowance credited to their telephone account following approval; that those difficulties have existed for a number of years and that the situation has not improved; that many recipients who are elderly and in need of the telephone facility are having their service disconnected for non-payment of rent, despite the fact that they have been officially notified by his Department that they have been awarded the allowance and that Telecom Éireann have been notified; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Telecom Éireann have been upgrading their telephone billing system on a phased basis since 1988. In parallel with Telecom Éireann's developments, my Department introduced earlier this year a computerised data transfer system which ensures that Telecom are notified quickly and accurately of all new free telephone rental allowances awards. As part of this data transfer system, Telecom have put new procedures in place which, when fully operational, will ensure that new allowance awards are credited to telephone accounts quickly and efficiently in all parts of the country.
The new data transfer system is built on a major computerised system in my Department for the various free scheme entitlements which came into operation in 1987. The objectives of all these changes are to improve service.
The Telecom Éireann billing system project is being introduced on a region by region basis. The last two regions have just been switched over to the new system. I understand that the new Telecom billing system is designed to reduce their overhead costs while providing a more reliable, timely and informative service to all telephone account holders.
My officials continuously monitor the operation of the free telephone rental scheme. There are ongoing discussions between Telecom Éireann and my Department on all aspects of the scheme, in particular on the service levels provided to social welfare clients.
I would like to assure the Deputy that there is no question of any client losing entitlements because of the delays. The allowances are backdated. If any clients are having difficulties with regard to threats of disconnection because there was a delay in having the allowance applied, they should contact my Department immediately. I have made special arrangements for my officials to contact Telecom Éireann for priority treatment in any case where an elderly person is experiencing anxiety because of the transitional problems I have mentioned.
The telephone allowance scheme benefits almost 80,000 persons at a cost of £11.5 million in the current year. The vast majority of these cases are receiving the allowance every billing period without any of the current transitional delays or difficulties which only arise at the initial stage for new cases. I am, of course, pressing for the best possible service for all social welfare clients and at all stages of the process. If the Deputy is aware of any particular cases with problems at the present time, I will have these cases investigated and resolved quickly.
First I congratulate Deputy O'Keeffe for raising this question. Would the Minister not explore the possibility of linking the computer in his Department which deals with telephone accounts to the computer in Telecom Éireann? In my opinion this is the only way to overcome this problem. I am sure every Deputy in the House has witnessed the kind of situation where people who have been, as detailed in the question, notified of their right to a free telephone allowance, get bills from Telecom Éireann and have their service disconnected because these bills are not paid.
It is only in very recent times that Telecom Éireann introduced the TIS billing system. This of course has greatly facilitated us in dealing with these cases. At this stage it is not a question of linking the two computers. The tapes can be cross-checked against one another in any of these cases. That facility is available and it can be done within a matter of days. If the Deputy were to table questions on specific cases I would certainly have them investigated. An enormous amount of money has been spent by the Department and Telecom Éireann to ensure that an efficient service is delivered.
Is the Minister aware that there is a 12 to 15 months delay between the Department's approval and Telecom Éireann's acceptance of the scheme? Some pensioners pay the rental even though we have recommended that they pay for the calls only. Old people whose telephones have been cut off suffer great trauma, and the Department who have granted the allowance should not tolerate that from Bord Telecom Éireann.
I fully accept that. If the Deputy informs me of any of these cases I will be very glad to pursue them.
