Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Apr 1996

Vol. 464 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Batt O'Keeffe

Ceist:

96 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to review the criteria for payment of disabled person's maintenance allowance to allow for special payments to be made in cases of particular hardship. [7723/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

The Social Welfare Act, 1996 provides the legislative basis for the transfer of responsibility for the administration of the disabled person's maintenance allowance scheme from the health boards to my Department. It is intended that this transfer will take place later this year.

Under the provisions of this Act the scheme will be known in future as disability allowance and the following important improvements will be made in the conditions of the scheme: providing a disregard of £45 per week plus travel expenses in respect of the earnings of a working spouse; significant improvements in the provisions for the assessment of capital including the disregard of the first £2.000; provision for the payment of two full personal rates of payment where both of a couple are in receipt of the allowance; and where a person on disability assistance goes in to hospital provision is made for continued payment of the allowance for a further 13 weeks. This is an improvement on the existing regulation which only allows payment for eight weeks in any calendar year.

It is also my intention to carry out a review of the scheme following the transfer which will take account of all issues raised with me to date including recommendations emerging from discussions with organisations representing people with disabilities and the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities which is expected shortly.

It is my intention to address such issues as soon as the scheme is transferred and I have had an opportunity to see how it is operating in practice. I am confident that the transfer of responsibility for the scheme to my Department will of itself improve the situation for people in receipt of the allowance and my intention will be to ensure that any subsequent rationalisation of arrangements will further improve the situation of people with disabilities.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

98 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether families in receipt of orphan's allowance qualify for back-to-school payments; if not, the reason this category of family has been excluded in view of the fact that they are in receipt of a social welfare payment; the estimated cost per year to give back-to-school payments in respect of orphans irrespective of family income; the differences, if any, in the treatment of orphan and fostering families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7800/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, is designed to assist certain recipients of social welfare and health board payments with the cost of children's school uniforms and footwear. Certain people on low incomes who are in receipt of family income supplement may also qualify for assistance.

In order to qualify for the allowance, the applicant must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and they must satisfy a means test. The means test takes account of any income over and above the appropriate rate of survivors (widows and widowers) contributory pension plus £5 where the guardian is single, and contributory old age pension plus £5 where the guardian is one of a couple. Where the income of a household exceeds these limits, the back to school clothing and footwear allowance is not payable.

Orphan's pension is not considered to be a qualifying payment under the terms of the back to school clothing and footwear scheme. The orphan's pension, which is a basic social welfare payment, is payable to the guardian and is intended to cover the child's cost of living, including food and clothing. Eligible applicants will receive either a contributory or non-contributory orphan's pension of up to £41.40 per week. In comparison, the allowance paid in respect of dependent children with other social welfare or health board payments is either £13.20 or £15.20 per week. The higher rate of orphan's pension as compared with the child dependant allowance rate means that the guardian receives an additional income of up to £1,400 per annum in respect of the orphaned child.

With regard to children placed in foster care, the financial support provided by the Department of Health through the health board includes annual assistance with clothing and footwear and additional assistance when the child returns to school. Accordingly, payment of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance would not normally arise in these cases.

Extending the back to school clothing and footwear scheme to include payment in respect of orphans would cost an estimated £53,000 per annum. This figure is based on the assumption that all 1,094 orphans (as at the end of March 1996) would qualify for the allowance and that 62 per cent of these would qualify for the lower rate of the back to school clothing and footwear scheme allowance.

From this year the back to school clothing and footwear allowance will be paid on an age related basis. Furthermore, I have increased the rates of allowance payable by £3. This means that under the 1996 scheme an allowance of £43 will be payable in respect of children from two to 11 years of age and an allowance of £58 will be payable in respect of qualified children from 12 to 21 years of age. I have also extended the scheme to recipients of unemployability supplement who satisfy the means assessment. It is expected that some 280,000 pupils will benefit under the scheme this year at a cost of approximately £13.8 million. The scheme opens for applications in all health boards from 1 June each year. This is to allow adequate time to process the large number of applications.