Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the issue of the bereavement grant arises in the context of budgetary discussions, I am reluctant to reply to the Senator, other than to say I understand why it was done away with. What people do not remember is the range of other support payments, many of which come from the Department, that are available to the bereaved. We do not just stop minding people once they become bereaved. We have extended carer's allowance and the domiciliary care allowance and taken a number of measures to continue payments for a significant number of weeks after someone passes away to try to ease the burden of the associated costs that arise following the loss of a loved one. The Department pays a sizable amount of money in exceptional needs payments to people who have a genuine financial difficulty in covering funeral expenses. That will always continue. It is not a case of someone receiving one amount of money and someone else receiving another. A standard amount is allocated on the basis of need and the outlay incurred when someone passes away. These payments will form part of the budgetary discussions.

The Senator's idea about stamp entitlements is a good one. He is right, in that a large number of people do not know what their entitlements are. Consider the increased participation rates under the dental treatment benefit scheme that was improved last year. I believe we told everyone 100 times that we had improved the benefit in the last budget, but people have approached me about it in my area and said they had not known about it until their dentist only charged them €15 for a visit. That tells me that we did not announce it enough. Therefore, the Senator's suggestion might be worthwhile. I am not sure giving newspapers advertising money is the best way to go about it, but I will review the options.