Vol. 506 No. 2
321 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason the budget day increase in old age pensions is not paid until 4 June; the plans, if any, he has to change this payment system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14889/99]
A lead-in time of a number of months is needed in order to make the required legislative and administrative changes necessary to implement the budget increases, e.g. enactment of the necessary social welfare legislation, printing of pension books etc.
The 1999 budget improvements, which took effect from the beginning of June, provide for increases of £6 per week for old age pensioners and £3 a week for their spouses. These increases will mean that, in the two years since taking office, the Government has moved half way towards meeting its commitment to increase the old age contributory pension to £100 per week over its five year term and has also brought forward the dates of payment of increases by two weeks, to the beginning of June.
The question of the timing of social welfare increases is matter to be decided in a budgetary context having regard to the fact that a lead-in time is required to make the necessary legislative and administrative changes and in the light of available resources and the Government's other priorities.
322 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the consideration, if any, he will give to allowing widows and widowers who are on non-contributory pension to earn the equivalent of their pension each week before they will be means tested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14928/99]
The widow(er)'s pension schemes recognise the particular financial difficulties that arise for people following the death of a spouse. Any widowed person who does not qualify for a contributory pension may qualify for either of two means-tested social welfare payments – namely, the one-parent family payment if they have child dependants or the widow(er)'s (non-contributory) pension where there are no child dependants.
With the budget 1999 improvements, the maximum rate, i.e. £73.50 per week for those under 66 years of age, of both the widow(er)'s (non-contributory) and the one parent family payment is now 102 per cent of the main rate recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare. The maximum rate on both schemes for those over 66 and under 80 years of age, i.e. £78.50 per week is 109 per cent of the commission's recommended rate.
The different methods of assessing means under the one-parent family payment for a widow with child dependants, and the widow(er)'s (non-contributory) pension for a person with no child dependants, reflect the fact that, in addition to widowhood, widows with child dependants face additional difficulties.
Economic and social research has shown that one-parent families are particularly vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion. Accordingly, the one-parent family payment is available to both men and women who are parenting alone and is designed to, first, provide basic income support, taking into account the special needs and requirements of single parents and, second, to encourage lone parents to return to the workforce so that, over time, they can achieve a greater degree of economic independence. This is the rationale behind the earnings disregard of £115.38 per week available to lone parents in employment under the one-parent family payment and which is intended to reflect the additional costs, e.g. child care, which a lone parent returning to employment faces.
The extension of this earnings disregard to other social welfare recipients – such as widows without child dependants – would obviously have cost implications and could only be considered in a budgetary context.
