Vol. 439 No. 1
34 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Social Welfare if, in view of the fact that new entrants to the public service will now have to pay full PRSI, he will give the free schemes to retired civil servants on a gradual basis and perhaps start at the over 75 age group.
Free travel under my Department's scheme is available to every resident in the State who is 66 years of age and over, including retired public servants. The other free schemes, such as free electricity allowance, free natural gas, free telephone rental allowance and free television licence are available only to people who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who satisfy the living alone conditions relevant to those schemes.
Any extension of the free schemes would have financial implications which could only be considered in the light of available resources.
35 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on extending the child benefit payable to parents in respect of children from 18 to 21 years in cases where such children are students and the full financial burden is on their parents.
Child benefit is normally paid in respect of a qualified child up to 16 years of age. Where the child continues in full-time education, the payment may continue to be paid up to 18 years of age. An extension of the age limit beyond 18 years would have financial implications and could only be considered in a budgetary context, taking account of available resources.
