As in the case of all other social assistance payments, disability allowance is subject to a means test. For the purposes of assessing means, account is taken of the claimant's own means and, in the case of a couple, the joint means are assessed. In this regard, recipients of disability allowance are treated in the same way as recipients of all other social assistance payments, e.g. unemployment assistance, old age non-contributory pensions, etc.
In assessing the means of a claimant's spouse for disability allowance purposes, account is taken of the spouse's net earnings, that is earnings net of income tax, PRSI, health insurance contributions, superannuation and union dues. A certain amount of the spouse's earnings from employment is disregarded – £45 where they are working four days or more, £30 where they are working between one and three days. In addition, an extra allowance may be made for reasonable travel expenses to work. Half of the spouse's net income is then assessed as means.
Any relaxation of the means test along the lines suggested by the Deputy would have financial implications and would have to be considered in a budgetary context, in the light of available resources and having regard to the Government's other priorities. It would also raise equity issues vis-à-vis other recipients: it would be difficult to justify disregarding spouse's income in cases of disability allowance and not doing so in the case of other social assistance payments.
On the wider question of individualising social welfare payments, this matter was recently examined by the working group on the treatment of married, cohabiting and one-parent families under the tax and social welfare codes. Several options were considered by the group, and while no agreement was reached, it was noted that individualisation was taking place through the expansion of the social insurance system with increasing workforce participation by women and the extension of social insurance cover to part-time workers in the early 1990's.