Vol. 442 No. 3
85 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the entitlement of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 10 to unemployment assistance; this person is working three days a week for a long time and, up to now, has been receiving unemployment assistance for the other two days which was apparently discontinued from September 1993; the position in relation to this person's entitlement to dental benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The person concerned was paid unemployment benefit from 5 August 1991 to 24 September 1993 when her maximum entitlement to 390 days benefit ceased.
A new application for unemployment benefit was made on 6 January 1994. To requalify for payment she required an additional 13 contributions paid and to have sustained a substantial loss of employment. On investigation of the case it was found that although she satisfied the contribution condition she had not sustained a substantial loss of employment and the application was disallowed by a deciding officer with effect from the date of the claim.
To sustain a substantial loss of employment, a person working one, two, three or four days a week must lose at least one day's employment. An applicant's normal level of employment is determined by reference to the 13 calendar weeks prior to the date of the claim. The days of employment in that period are totalled and divided by 13, fractions of a day are rounded up to a day. The person concerned had been employed three days per week in the relevant period and her pattern of employment from 6 January 1994 remained unchanged. It is open to her to apply for unemployment assistance, which is means tested. All applications are decided on their merits. She is currently qualified for dental benefit but there is no trace of any recent application.
86 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will reinstate disability benefit to a person (details supplied) in County Dublin who is suffering from myalgic encephomyelitis and who was cut off disability benefit from 7 July 1993 in spite of the fact that she has no other income whatsoever and that she cannot work as a result of her medical condition; if this person will be awarded an invalidity pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The social welfare legislation provides that a person who has paid less than 260 PRSI contributions since he or she first entered insurable employment is entitled to payment of disability benefit for a maximum period of 52 weeks. To requalify for payment of disability benefit, a person requires a further 13 paid PRSI contributions or such lesser number as would bring to 260 the total number of PRSI contributions paid.
The person concerned made a claim to disability benefit on 4 July 1992 and was paid to 6 July 1993, which was the maximum period to which she was entitled because, according to my Department's records, she had a total of only 230 contributions paid since she first entered insurable employment.
She was notified at that time that she was no longer entitled to disability benefit and that to requalify for further payment of benefit it would be necessary for her to be insurably employed for a further 13 weeks.
The person concerned cannot be considered for an invalidity pension because it is a condition of that scheme that a total of at least 260 insurance contributions must have been paid. If her means are insufficient to meet her needs she should apply to her local health board for payment of supplementary welfare allowance.
87 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Social Welfare if there has been any change in the regulations relating to the eligibility for old age pensioners over a certain age who could continue to be entitled to fringe benefits such as free electricity allowance, free telephone rental allowance, free fuel allowance or free television licence, if they no longer live alone due to infirmity; and, if so, if he will clarify these guidelines as to when pensioners can retain these benefits and no longer live alone.
Schemes such as the free electricity allowance, free natural gas allowance, free television licence and free telephone rental allowance are available only to people who are in receipt of certain social welfare type payments and who satisfy the living alone conditions relevant to those schemes.
Since 1990, pensioners aged 80 years and over entitled to the free electricity allowance, free natural gas allowance and free television licence have been allowed to retain them even if someone comes to live with them. As I announced in the Dáil in last January's budget, that age limit from next July will be reduced to 75 years and over in the case of those schemes and will also apply, for the first time, in the case of the free telephone rental allowance. There is no change in the conditions of eligibility for receipt of the free fuel allowance.
