Vol. 496 No. 5
132 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his views on the case of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo who was entitled to £25 per week on unemployment assistance and has been refused supplementary welfare allowance while sick as a result of his means; the plans, if any, he has to alter the means test for supplementary welfare allowance in order that it is on a par with the means tests for social welfare benefits. [23320/98]
The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is a short-term payment which is designed to provide immediate assistance for those in need. The purpose of the scheme is to ensure every person in the State has access to a prescribed minimum income, taking their household circumstances into account.
The amount of SWA payable in all cases is the difference between the person's means and the minimum weekly income prescribed in law for the household type in question. Household income is taken into account and reduces the amount of SWA payable by £1 for every £1 means assessed.
In the case raised by the Deputy, the household consists of a couple without dependent children. The amount of SWA payable in respect of such a household is £109.60 per week, if they have no means. If a couple has means of less than £109.60, then the amount payable is the balance required to bring their income up to £109.60. If a couple has means of £109.60 or more, then SWA is not payable. In this case, the spouse of the person is in employment and, as a result, the household income exceeds £109.60 per week by over £40 per week.
In assessing the means of an applicant for unemployment assistance, a proportion of any earnings which the person's spouse may have is disregarded. This provision is designed to provide an incentive for unemployed people and their spouses to take up or stay in employment. No such disregard applies in the case of supplementary welfare allowance, the purpose of which is to meet immediate financial need.
The question of changes in the means test for supplementary welfare allowance on the lines proposed would have significant financial implications and could only be considered in a budgetary context.
133 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the scheme for providing alarms, smoke alarms and locks in homes for the elderly has a shortfall of approximately £2 million in 1998; and the plans, if any, he has to rectify this situation as a matter of urgency. [23289/98]
Since 1986, my Department has operated the scheme of community support for older people, the purpose of which is to provide funding for initiatives to improve the security and social support of vulnerable older people. This funding is provided by way of grant to voluntary groups who have undertaken to identify those elderly people in need of assistance under the scheme.
Under the scheme grants are available for small-scale physical security equipment such as strengthening of doors and windows, window locks, door chains and locks, and security lighting and socially-monitored alarm systems — such as the "pendant" or "panic button" alarm systems.
134 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his views on the fact that the yearly average contribution condition in relation to pension entitlement gives rise to particular problems for people with periods of insurance that have been intermittent; his further views on the fact that this can lead to the situation where a person with more years of PRSI contributions gets a lower pension than a person with less contributions; and the cost to the Exchequer of removing this anomaly to ensure that a pension at the maximum rate is payable in all these cases. [23290/98]
At present, to qualify for an old age contributory pension a person must have entered insurance at least ten years before reaching pension age; at least 156 contributions paid — from April 2002, this will increase to a minimum of 260 paid contributions and to a minimum of 520 from April 2012 — and a yearly average of at least 20 contributions — or 24 in the case of a retirement pension — registered since January 1953, when the unified system of social insurance came into effect, or the time they started insurable employment, if later.
The third condition is a minimum qualifying condition which applies to all insured people. Its clear purpose is to link entitlement to a pension with a reasonable level of full-rate contributions to the social insurance fund during the course of a person's working career.
Therefore a person's entitlement is calculated from his or her date of entry into social insurance but it is acknowledged that the application of this rule can lead to particular difficulties for people who, for one reason or another, had "gaps" in their insurance records leading to a diluted yearly average.
During the last decade, successive measures have been introduced to alleviate some of these anomalies: in 1997, the reduction of the minimum yearly average requirement from 20 to ten contributions per year, leading to a pro rata pension, the introduction in 1991 of pro rata pensions for people with “mixed insurance” records, the rate payable being in proportion to the periods of insurance completed at the rate appropriate for old age-retirement pensions and the introduction in 1994 of the homemaker provisions to cater for periods of time spent outside the workforce caring either for children or incapacitated people.
In addition a new pro rata pension will be made available to those self-employed, aged 56 or over in April 1988 — when social insurance for the self-employed was introduced — and who have at least five years contributions paid since then.
I am aware that other issues still remain to be examined. As the Deputy will be aware, I have long stated my commitment to ensuring the most broadly feasible contributory pension coverage to as many categories as possible. With this in mind, my officials are undertaking a detailed examination and review of all the contribution conditions generally applying to the old age (contributory) pension and I would hope to have a report on this in the first quarter of next year.
The issues involved are complex and raise fundamental questions regarding the number of contributions, both paid and credited, that a person has, the PRSI actually paid in respect of their contributions and their overall value. Issues of equity and redistribution within the social insurance system also arise to be addressed.
The costings requested by the Deputy are not readily available.
135 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the ways in which he might counter the inequity where single retired people on occupational pensions are not entitled to the free schemes benefits while widowed people in identical circumstances are; the proposals, if any, he has to standardise entitlement to these benefits to include all retired people who are living alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23341/98]
The free schemes such as free electricity allowance, free TV licence and free telephone rental allowance are available to people living in the State, aged 66 or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment and to certain people with disabilities under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. In addition, widows or widowers aged from 60 to 65 whose late spouses had been in receipt of the free schemes retain that entitlement.
The free schemes are also available to lowincome pensioners who are not in receipt of a social welfare type pension and who satisfy a means-test. The weekly means income limit fixed for this purpose is the maximum personal rate of old age contributory pension, which is £83.00 for a recipient aged 66 to 79 years, and £88.00 for a recipient aged 80 years or over; plus £30.00; plus any increases for dependants or for living alone.
To qualify for the free schemes, the person must be living alone or only with certain excepted people who satisfy this condition. This condition is not, however, applied in the case of persons aged over 75 years who are in receipt of a qualifying payment.
The free schemes were originally designed to benefit mainly older people in receipt of a social welfare type payment who were living alone and required additional assistance. However, over the years, additional categories of people have been included. It is proposed to undertake a fundamental review of the free schemes, commencing in early 1999, to assess whether the objectives of these schemes are being achieved in the most efficient and effective manner and the Deputy's proposal will be examined as part of this review process.
