Michael Ring
Ceist:446 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when a six weeks payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Mayo following the death of her husband. [7633/99]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
There are various schemes within the social welfare system to assist families in dealing with death and funeral expenses. These include the payment of six weeks social welfare following the death of certain social welfare recipients or their spouse, the payment of a death grant to insured people and their families and the payment of a funeral grant under the occupational injuries benefit.
Following the death of a recipient of a social welfare payment or his/her spouse the payment is generally continued at the same rate for six weeks in circumstances where both spouses had a separate entitlement – provided one or both of the entitlements was a non-contributory old age pension, a blind pension or a carer's allowance – or where the payment includes an increase for a qualified adult. The payment does not arise where each spouse had an independent entitlement to an insurance-based contributory pension.
As the person concerned is in receipt of her own retirement pension, she is not entitled to receive a six weeks after death payment from this Department.
Improvements to the death grant scheme, which is a payment made to certain insured people and their families based on their PRSI contributions to assist in the payment of funeral expenses, were recently announced. The death grant is now being totally redesigned and upgraded in the following ways: increasing the amount payable five-fold from £100 to £500; improving the coverage by easing the qualifying PRSI conditions and extending the scheme to other PRSI contributors; and renaming the scheme to bereavement grant.
These improvements are provided for in the Social Welfare Bill, 1999, which was recently published. The improvements will apply in respect of deaths which occur on or after 2 February 1999.
These improvements, at an estimated cost of £10 million in a full year, are the first step in the development of a new and improved bereavement allowance. Other schemes, including the six week payments after death arrangements will be reviewed further in 1999.
The person concerned has applied and qualified for a bereavement grant. A cheque for £500 will be issued to her next week.
Jim Mitchell
Ceist:447 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9 is due a further week's arrears of unemployment payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7653/99]
The person concerned made a claim for unemployment assistance on 15 February 1999. His claim was authorised for payment and a cheque for £68.40 was issued on 22 February 1999 in respect of the period 15-20 February 1999. There are no outstanding arrears due to the person concerned.
Michael Ring
Ceist:448 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive entitlement to unemployment benefits. [7676/99]
Entitlement to unemployment benefit is subject to the statutory condition that a person must be available for work.
The person concerned applied for unemploy ment benefit on 19 February 1999. A deciding officer disallowed her claim on the grounds that she was not available for work. It is open to the person concerned to appeal this decision. A form for this purpose may be obtained from her social welfare local office.
Brendan Howlin
Ceist:449 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of persons aged 65 or older who are in receipt of pensions from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7716/99]
The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following table:
Number of recipients, aged 65 years or over, of social welfare pensions, February 1999:
|
Old Age Contributory Pension* |
71,910 |
|
Old Age Non-Contributory Pension* |
94,921 |
|
Retirement Pension |
75,957 |
|
Widow/er's Contributory Pension |
68,001 |
|
Widow/er's Non-Contributory Pension |
15,438 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
3,823 |
|
Blind Person's Pension |
688 |
|
Total |
330,738 |
*Aged 66 years or over.
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:450 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that budgetary increases awarded to people in receipt of payments from his Department are being clawed back by the Eastern Health Board through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that rent supplements are being reduced because of the budgetary increases; the plans, if any, he has for streamlining the supplementary welfare allowance scheme to prevent this clawback; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7736/99]
Richard Bruton
Ceist:464 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will change the rules governing rent and mortgage supplement whereby a person switching from pre-retirement allowance to non-contributory old age pension will lose in rent supplement the amount gained as result of the extra payment due on reaching 66 in view of the fact that this extra payment is to take account of extra costs associated with reaching pensionable age; and the cost of making such a concession. [8124/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 and 464 together.
Under the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, a weekly supplement may be paid in respect of rent or mortgage interest to people in receipt of social welfare or health board payments.
Entitlement to a supplement is determined by the health boards and supplements are normally calculated to ensure that the person, after payment of rent or mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to the family circumstances, less £6.
This £6 represents the minimum contribution which clients are required to pay from their own resources. Applicants are also required to contribute any assessable means in excess of the appropriate basic supplementary welfare allowance rate towards their rent or mortgage interest supplement.
The current SWA rate for a single person is £68.40 per week. Any increase in income over and above that rate will result in a decrease of that amount in the rent supplement rate payable. The result is that a single person has £62.40 per week to meet their other needs in all cases where a rent supplement is in payment.
When a person is in receipt of pre-retirement allowance – PRETA – at £70.50 per week, the contribution that he or she is required to pay towards rent is £8.10 per week leaving £62.40 per week to meet other needs.
When the person moves on to an old age non-contributory pension at a weekly rate of £72.50 his/her total income has increased by £2 weekly. As the appropriate rate of SWA for a single person is £68.40 weekly, the personal contribution towards the rent will increase by £2 from £8.10 to £10.10 weekly – £4 excess plus £6 minimum contribution – again leaving £62.40 per week to meet other needs.
These rules also apply to unemployed people and other rent supplement recipients who take up part-time employment. This aspect of the SWA scheme will be examined in the context of the Government's commitment under Partnership 2000 to consider a tapering arrangement for SWA housing supplements in consultation with the social partners. Initial contact has been made with the social partners in that regard with a view to opening discussions during April 1999.
The further development of the SWA rent and mortgage interest supplement scheme, to address this and other issues, will have to be considered in a budgetary context, taking into account also the views of the social partners.
Joe Higgins
Ceist:451 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of recipients of family income supplement in 1997. [7840/99]
The number of recipients of family income supplement at the end of December 1997 was 12,888. This was payable in respect of 37,223 children.