Vol. 445 No. 8
83 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will change the practice currently in operation in his Department whereby letters to the next of kin of deceased pensioners are sent out within a week to ten days of the death causing great distress to the relatives with particular reference to the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin. [1190/94]
My Department is obliged to ensure that social welfare recipients and their dependants are paid their correct entitlements. Consistent with this obligation, it is very important that the next of kin of deceased pensioners receive any outstanding payments as soon as possible after the death of a pensioner. Prompt payments to next of kin are very important at a time when funeral expenses can be extremely worrying for many families.
When the death of the pensioner concerned was reported to my Department, the date of death was not specified in the notification supplied. In order to determine if any payments were due to the next of kin, a form requesting details of the date of death issued to the late pensioner's representative shortly after receiving notification of the death of the pensioner. It was the issue of this inquiry form in this particular case that prompted the Deputy's query.
My Department is notified routinely of more than 20,000 pensioner deaths each year. In many cases, not all relevant information is supplied at the time of notification of these deaths to enable all aspects of the pensioners' entitlements to be finalised. Where incomplete information is supplied, it is necessary to have an inquiry procedure in place, such as was issued in the particular case referred to by the Deputy. In issuing the inquiry form in this case, my Department was acting in good faith and was not aware at that time of any specific circumstances involved which may have caused distress.
