Richard Bruton
Ceist:141 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the threshold income used in determining eligibility for the mobility allowance. [28907/00]
Written Answers. - Mobility Allowance.
The mobility allowance comes under the aegis of my Department and is administered by the health boards. It was introduced in 1979 by circular 15/79 and is payable under section 61 of the Health Act, 1970. The purpose of the allowance is to provide financial support to severely disabled people who are unable to walk or use public transport in order to finance the occasional taxi journey.
To be eligible to receive this allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: be over 16 years and under 66 years, however, an allowance, once granted, will be continued after this age as long as the other criteria for eligibility are met; be living at home or maintained by a health board in any long-term institution; be unable to walk, even with the use of artificial limbs or other suitable aids, or must be in such a condition of health that the exertion required to walk would be dangerous; inability to walk has to be likely to persist for at least one year; moving of the applicant must not have been forbidden for medical reasons; be in a condition to benefit from a change in surroundings.
The maximum rate of mobility allowance is £45.60 per month. This is currently under review.
It is a matter for the senior area medical officer in the relevant health board to decide whether the medical criteria are satisfied in each case. Applicants must undergo a means test to decide eligibility. The threshold income used in determining eligibility is the disability allowance rate. If the income of the applicant does not exceed the current rate of disability allowance, the applicant will qualify for the full rate of the mobility allowance. Where the applicant's income exceeds the current rate of disability allowance, the rate of mobility allowance paid is reduced accordingly.
For those applicants on disability allowance, invalidity pension or infectious diseases maintenance allowance, income earned up to a maximum of £75 per week of a therapeutic or rehabilitative nature, can be disregarded for the purpose of assessing mobility allowance.