Enda Kenny
Ceist:54 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo was refused an old age pension; and if he will arrange for an immediate review of the decision given.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The person concerned had been receiving an old age non-contributory pension of £2 per week with effect from 2 February 1990. This reduced rate of pension was based on her means which were derived from the capital value of property which she and her late husband owned. She later appealed this decision.
Prior to an oral hearing of her appeal in October 1990, the person concerned sold the property in question and distributed a large part of the proceeds to various members of her family.
The appeals officer held that the person concerned had deprived herself of means in order to qualify for pension. Under social welfare legislation, a person who disposes of property in order to qualify for pension continues to be assessed with the value of the property. The proceeds of the property sale had to be assessed against her. As a result, she was not entitled to pension as her means exceeded the statutory limit. Her pension was revoked in November 1990.
She re-applied for pension in July 1991. Following extensive investigations, it was decided again in January 1992 that the person concerned was not entitled to old age non-contributory pension. She was still deemed to have disposed of the proceeds of the sale of her property in order to qualify for pension. Her means, including the yearly value of this capital, exceeded the statutory limit for entitlement to pension.
It is still open to the person concerned to appeal this decision by outlining her grounds of appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. An appeal form was issued to her on 29 January 1992.
Michael Joe Cosgrave
Ceist:55 Mr. Cosgrave asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will have the procedure for the issuing of widow's pensions reviewed in view of the delays and the resulting hardship to families; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The procedures for processing widow pension claims are kept under regular review by my Department in order to minimise delays and maintain a high level of service to the customer. It is felt that in general there is no undue delay in deciding entitlement to such pensions.
Approximately 150 widow pension applications are received each week. The average time take to process a contributory widow's pension application is three and a half weeks. Nearly half of all widows who apply for this pension are in receipt of their late husband's social welfare entitlement for a six-week period following his death. More than 80 per cent of these applicants are awarded pension before this six-week period expires. They therefore suffer no interruption in payment.
It takes an average of ten weeks to process a widow's non-contributory pension application. As entitlement to this pension is based on means, each claim must be investigated by a social welfare officer. The investigative process often involves the determination of property ownership following the husband's death, the assessment of any farm income or the valuation of property. This leads to some unavoidable delay in deciding entitlement to pension.
The one-stop-shop approach, being implemented under my Department's new regional management structure, will allow claim procedures to be monitored and developed in a more flexible way in the future. This new system will therefore provide an opportunity for the service levels to be improved for all social welfare customers.
Experience has shown that some widows do not apply for pension until some weeks after the death of their husbands. This delay in applying at a time of bereavement is understandable. However, it may often give an erroneous impression that protracted delays occur in the processing of applications following receipt by my Department.
Any widow who is suffering financial hardship while awaiting a decision on her entitlement to pension may seek assistance from the community welfare officer at her local health centre.
If the Deputy is concerned about delays in determining entitlement to pension in any particular case, he should give me the details and I will be pleased to have it investigated.