Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 27 Mar 1996

Vol. 463 No. 4

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

136 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Social Welfare if 1996 budget changes which granted the free scheme to pensioners within £30 of the social welfare equivalent only applies to those on occupational pensions or if a person over 70, originally self-employed with sole means of building society interest of £70 per week on long-term investment will qualify. [6765/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

As announced in the budget, the free telephone rental allowance, free electricity allowance and free colour television licence are being extended from next July to low income pensioners who do not qualify at present because they are not in receipt of a social welfare pension. The weekly income limit that is being fixed for this purpose will be the new maximum personal rate of old age contributory pension — £75 per week — plus any increases for dependants, living alone allowance, etc. plus an additional amount of £30.

This extension of the free schemes to non-social welfare pensioners is not confined to those solely in receipt of occupational pensions. Once the means requirements as set out above are satisfied and the other eligibility criteria for the schemes are met, a pensioner over 66 years of age will now, for the first time, have access to the free schemes.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

137 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Social Welfare the new instructions or guidelines, if any, given in recent months to health boards which explain the reason community welfare officers have cut back on allocations to some categories of recipients; and if he could give a breakdown of payments by category for any recent period compared with five years ago covering rent allowance, fuel or ESB support, clothing allowance, funeral expenses and other special categories as per the statistics available. [6767/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

The categories of payments to which the Deputy refers can be broadly classified into two supplementary welfare allowance — SWA — payment types. These are exceptional needs payments — ENPs — and rent supplements.

The purpose of ENPs is to help prevent hardship by providing for essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which applicants could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. There is no automatic or statutory right of entitlement to ENPs. Furthermore, the legislation does not allow the Minister to prescribe either the circumstances, or the nature of the need, in respect of which a payment may be made. ENPs are payable at the discretion of the health board taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.

In the interest of equity and transparency, my Department undertook to publish all guidance relating to the SWA scheme. The guidelines on ENPs were published in October 1995. In so far as it is possible, these guidelines are intended to ensure equitable treatment for all applicants and consistency in discretionary decision making both within and between the health boards. The guidelines make it clear that nothing in them must be taken as limiting or fettering the health boards' discretion to grant or not to grant a payment or the extent of the grant in each case.

Detailed statistical information on the SWA scheme for the past five years is not available. The following tabular statement provides details of the number of cases in respect of which ENPs were paid in 1994 and 1995. This shows that, apart from ENPs in respect of fuel, including ESB and gas and rent and mortgage arrears, there has been an increase in the number of ENPs awarded for all other categories between 1994 and 1995.

The decrease in the number of ENPs paid in respect of fuel may be attributed to the introduction and successful operation of a code of practice on ESB and gas bills. This code was agreed between the health boards, Bord Gáis. ESB and the Department of Social Welfare. Its purpose is to assist people who regularly have difficulty meeting their ESB or gas Bills by setting up a repayment agreement with the company involved. The repayment agreement takes account of the customer's income and general circumstances. The implementation of the code has contributed to a reduction in the need for ENPs in cases where fuel arrears have accumulated. Health boards may still provide assistance in the form of ENPs in cases of particular difficulty.

In considering the decrease in the number of ENPs paid in respect of rent and mortgage arrears, it should be noted that whilst the number of cases has fallen by approximately 20 per cent there has only been a reduction of 10 per cent in terms of expenditure on rent arrears and 5 per cent in terms of expenditure on mortgage arrears.

The reduction in the number of cases for all these categories of ENPs may be further explained by the introduction of the household budget deduction scheme and the extension of the money advice and budgeting service — MABS. The household budget deduction scheme has been in operation since 1993 and provides for deductions from social welfare payments in respect of local authority rent or mortgage and utilities such as ESB, Bord Gáis and Telecom Éireann.

MABS provides general money advice for families who have particular problems with moneylenders and suggests practical measures that will assist people in the long-term to manage their budgets. The number of such projects has increased from five in 1992 to 35 in 1995. Proposals are being examined at present to have the service available nationwide by the end of 1996.

With regard to rent supplements payable under the SWA scheme, in the majority of cases, entitlement is now determined in line with the legislative provisions set out in the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, and S.I. No. 382 of 1995. The legislative provisions of the S.I. commenced on 1 January 1996. Prior to that, the same principles applied to applications for such supplements but on an administrative basis in the form of guidance and direction issued by the Minister under section 175 of the Act. Between 1994 and 1995 the number of cases in respect of which a rent supplement was paid has increased by 6.2 per cent.

TABLE 1.

ENP Type	No. of Cases 1994	No. of Cases 1995	%inc+/dec-
ESB	7,834	5,927	–24.3
Fuel	1,351	1,159	–14.2
Rent Arrears	634	515	–18.8
Rent Deposits and Advances	5,650	6,079	+7.6
Mortgage Arrears	293	235	–19.8
Bedding	3,740	4,557	+21.8
Furniture and Furnishings	5,900	7,694	+30.4
Household Appliances	12,652	15,929	+25.9
Clothing and Footwear	50,981	51,131	+10.9
Prams and Pushchairs	7,885	8,744	+6.0
Travel	7,647	8,103	+8.7
Funerals	2,595	2,822	+8.7
Minor Repairs	5,367	5,608	+4.5
Payment in kind	11,790	12,681	+7.6
Other ENPs	17,248	17,810	+3.3
Total	141,567	148,994	+5.3
Rent Supplements	67,616	71,813	+6.2

Rory O'Hanlon

Ceist:

138 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to streamline the arrangements for the transfer of free services to any eligible person in a house where the recipient is no longer entitled to such service as a result of death or transfer to institutional care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6780/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

Free travel is available to all persons in the State aged 66 years or over and also to certain disabled people under the age of 66. The other free schemes, such as free electricity allowance and free telephone rental, are available to people, usually aged 66 or over, who are in receipt of a welfare type payment and who are either living alone or who otherwise satisfy the living alone condition. In addition, widows between the age of 60 and 65 whose late husbands had entitlement to the free schemes retain that entitlement notwithstanding their age.

As announced in this year's budget, the free telephone rental allowance, free electricity allowance and free colour television licence will be extended from next July to low income pensioners who do not qualify at present because they are not in receipt of a social welfare pension. The weekly income limit that is being fixed for this purpose will be the new maximum personal rate of old age contributory pension — £75 per week — plus any increases for dependants, plus £30.

In the event of the cessation of the free schemes owing to the death of the pensioner or transfer to institutional care, it is open to other members of the household to apply for the allowances in their own right. In those circumstances, the applicant would be required to satisfy all the eligibility conditions for receipt of the allowances and in the case of the free electricity scheme, for example, to apply to become the registered consumer of electricity in the household.