Tony Gregory
Ceist:275 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will review the decision to refuse the back to education allowance to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7. [29831/01]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
There is no trace of an application from the person concerned for the back to education allowance. To qualify for participation in the scheme an applicant must, inter alia, be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment for at least six months, 156 days, immediately prior to commencing an approved course of study.
According to the Department's records the person concerned was not in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment prior to participation in a course of study and he would not, therefore, in any event be eligible for the allowance.
Michael Ring
Ceist:276 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if persons in receipt of disability benefit will receive the Christmas bonus. [29931/01]
The Christmas bonus has been paid at a rate equivalent to 70% of a person's normal weekly payment, subject to a minimum payment of £20 or 25.39 since 1989. In 2000 it was increased to 100% or double the person's normal weekly payment, again subject to a minimum payment of £20 or 25.39 and will be paid on a similar basis in 2001. The cost of this measure is estimated to be £79.1 million or 100.4 million. Payment will be made in early December and it is estimated that it will benefit some 1.2 million persons comprising some 780,000 recipients and an estimated 400,000 dependants.
The bonus will be paid to recipients of long-term payments including disablement pension, death benefit by way of pension, old age contributory and non-contributory pensions, retirement pension, invalidity pension, widow's and widower's non-contributory pension, widow's and widower's contributory pension, orphan's contributory and non-contributory pensions, pre-retirement allowance, blind pension, carer's allowance, one parent family payment, payments to people formerly in receipt of deserted wife's benefit and allowance and prisoner's wife's allowance, unemployment assistance at the long-term rate, farm assist and the disability allowance.
The focus of the Christmas bonus is firmly based on long-term welfare payment recipients and any proposal to extend the bonus to persons in receipt of disability benefit would be inconsistent with this basic objective, and would create inevitable pressures for its further extension to other short-term categories in the future.
It is already open to persons who have been in receipt of disability benefit for at least a year to be assessed for invalidity pension and if found eligible for same, to qualify for the Christmas bonus payment.
Paul McGrath
Ceist:277 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the estimated cost to the Exchequer of paying all dependant child allowances at the higher rate of £17 per week. [29932/01]
It would cost in the region of £49 million, 62.22 million in a full year to bring all child dependant allowances up to the highest rate currently paid.
Paul McGrath
Ceist:278 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the estimated cost to the Exchequer of equalising child benefit payments at the higher rate for all qualifying children. [29933/01]
The full year cost of increasing the lower rate of payment of child benefit to the higher rate of payment, an increase of £18.50 or 23.49 per month, is estimated at £188.73 million or 239.64 million.