Vol. 499 No. 3
88 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the cost of bring ing forward all social welfare payment rises to April of each year; and the reason the process of co-ordinating the tax and welfare financial years was abandoned by this Government. [2602/99]
113 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the steps, if any, his Department has made to introduce the same commencement date for the new tax and social welfare years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2619/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 113 together.
The recent budget package represents the biggest ever social welfare budget allocation, amounting to over £305 million on a full year basis. Among the major improvements included in the package are a £6 weekly increase in the personal rates of pension for people over 66 and for those over 65 on retirement and invalidity pension, together with a £3 increase in the qualified adult allowance payable with old age, retirement and invalidity pensions; a £3 weekly increase in the personal rates for other social welfare recipients under 66 years, together with a £2 increase in the qualified adult allowance; additional increases for those on the lowest rates so as to bring all social welfare rates above the Commission on Social Welfare's target rate; a £3 increase in the monthly child benefit for each of the first two children, with a £4 increase per month for each other child; a major package of improvements for carers costing £18 million in a full year, including the introduction of an annual once-off payment of £200 towards the cost of respite care; the introduction of a special 50 per cent pension for certain self-employed people who were aged 56 and over in April 1988 and who have at least five years PRSI contributions since then; the payment of arrears on a sliding scale on late claims for contributory pensions made pre-January 1997; and the introduction of a new means-tested farm assist scheme to help low income farmers.
In addition to these budget improvements, I have recently announced a five-fold increase in the death grant from £100 to £500 to assist families in the payment of funeral expenses, at an extra cost of £10 million in a full year.
The cost of the various increases in weekly social welfare payments, including FIS improvements, in the 1999 budget amounts to almost £206 million on a full year basis. The additional cost of bringing these increases forward by eight weeks to 6 April 1999 would amount to almost £32 million.
The question of the level of future increases to be provided, together with the effective dates of those increases, are matters to be decided in a budgetary context having regard to the available resources and in the light of the Government's other priorities.
