The supplementary welfare allowance means test includes a value attributed to any capital a person may have. Capital refers to savings, investments, cash-on-hands and property (excluding their own home). The value of all of these items is added together and a formula applied to their total value to calculate a person's weekly means, depending on the particular social assistance scheme in involved.
Capital that is owned but not personally used or enjoyed (e.g. a second house) is assessed as means under the means test. Where capital or property is assessed on this basis, any income received from its use (e.g. interest on savings, dividends from shares, rent from property) is not assessed as cash income. Instead, the following formula is used to establish weekly means:
Disregard first €5,000 of capital value of property/savings
Assess next €10,000 at €1 per €1,000
Assess next €25,000 at €2 per €1,000
Assess remaining capital over €40,000 at €4 per €1,000.
The capital assessment formula applicable to SWA is not intended to determine a potential rate of interest or income from the capital, but rather to ensure that any such capital or savings should be utilized by applicants towards their basic income needs. Apart from this assessment formula, any interest or income actually received by an applicant derived from this capital is not taken into account further for SWA means assessment purposes.
There are no plans to change the treatment of capital under the supplementary welfare allowance means test. Any changes would have to be considered within a budgetary context.