Vol. 417 No. 3
14 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Social Welfare if the recipient of an old age non-contributory pension in this country (details supplied) who is also receiving a part pension from the United Kingdom has the right to refuse the United Kingdom pension and opt for full pension entitlement here; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
20 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Social Welfare if recipients of United Kingdom retirement pensions or of social security payments from the United Kingdom have the right to relinquish same and opt for payment of full Irish pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 14 and 20 together.
A recipient of retirement pension from Britain or any other country can qualify for an Irish non-contributory old age pension where the rate of retirement pension is lower than the rate of non-contributory pension. Where the retirement pension is subsequently increased the non-contributory pension falls to be adjusted accordingly. It is not open to a pensioner in these circumstances to relinquish the retirement pension and opt for full non-contributory pension.
There would be no overall financial advantage to pensioners doing this, in that, under the structure of the non-contributory pension means assessment, pension entitlement is adjusted in direct proportion to weekly means. Furthermore, the legislation provides that in circumstances of this kind the yearly value of the pension would have to continue to be regarded as means for the purposes of determining entitlement to Irish old age non-contributory pension.
In the particular case raised by the Deputy, the person concerned was in receipt of an old age non-contributory pension of £32 per week. This included an allowance of £11 in respect of her husband.
In February 1992 her entitlement to pension was reviewed. Arising from an increase in her means derived from her own and her husband's British retirement pensions, her Irish pension had to be reduced to £23 per week with effect from 21 February 1992. This rate of payment includes an allowance of £8 per week in respect of her husband. I should point out that, in determining her means and consequent rate of pension, the first £6 of her weekly income from her British pension was disregarded.
In February last, the Deputy wrote to my Department indicating that the person concerned wished to appeal against the decision to reduce her pension. She has been asked to set out formally the grounds of her appeal to allow the independent social welfare appeals office to reassess her case.
Naturally I am not au fait with the Deputy's question although I heard him speak about it. I did not hear the first part of the Minister's reply. Does this person have an option?
No.
It seems that her concern relates to the exchange rate mechanism and that, over the years, she and her husband received less than if they had been entitled to a full non-contributory pension here. Will the Minister agree that it would be unusual if they were financially worse off because they were entitled to a non-contributory pension in this country anyway?
They should not be worse off because of means testing of another pension. However, when the British pension is increased the means of the person change and the Irish pension should be reduced. In the meantime it can happen that the Irish pension has been increased and it goes on like that. In many cases, a number of years elapse before a person's means come up for review and it can get quite complicated. It is not possible for a person to say that he or she does not want a pension.
Will the Minister ensure that they will not be worse off?
They should not be worse off but, as I said, increases in different pensions cause complications.
Is the Minister aware of the withdrawal of small sums in relation to Irish non-contributory pensions? I am speaking about sums of £3, £4 and £5. This is caused because of the link with the British pension and the Irish non-contributory pension which may allow a living alone allowance, free electricity and free telephone rental, which can be lost for the sake of £1 or £2. I hope the limit of £6 to which the Minister referred will be applicable because I have seen documents from the Minister's Department which seem to disregard it in relation to very small Irish non-contributory pensions. Is the Minister aware of the widespread withdrawal in cases of this kind?
I am not but, if Deputy Ferris brings a case to my attention, I will have it examined. There was a period during which the means of people were not reviewed and people have suffered as a result.
Will the Minister agree that because means were not reviewed for a number of years it is now causing hardship and concern to many? Will he ensure that there is an annual review so that large sums will not be deducted from one payment?
That will depend on resources and staff available in my Department. Because of that I cannot give a commitment in this regard but I hope the situation to which Deputy Stagg referred will not recur. In relation to an earlier question by Deputy Connaughton, it might have been inferred that there will be an increase of 4 per cent in some child benefit payments this year. However, that is not the case; the 4 per cent will apply to all increases payable in respect of child dependants.
I was a bit puzzled.
It would have been going against what was in the budget.
