Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 287: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the schemes which a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will qualify for; and if they will qualify for the free schemes, the living alone scheme, the fuel scheme and any other schemes. [12763/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned has been awarded the household benefits package with effect from 9 September 2004. Eircom and the ESB will be notified as soon as possible to apply the allowances to his accounts.

He has also been awarded a free lifetime television licence with effect from the expiry date of his current TV licence. If the person concerned has purchased a television licence since 9 September 2004, he can obtain a refund by sending proof of purchase, a receipt or a copy of the licence, to the Free Schemes Section, Pension Services Office, College Road, Sligo.

The fuel allowance scheme is intended to help households who are dependent on long-term social welfare payments and who are unable to provide for their own heating needs. One of the conditions for receipt of this payment is that the claimant must be in receipt of a pension from my department or an equivalent payment from a country covered by EU regulations or a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement.

To qualify for a living alone allowance, a person must satisfy a number of conditions. One of these conditions requires that the applicant be in receipt of a pension from my Department. As the person concerned is not in receipt of a qualifying payment, I regret that he is not eligible to claim the fuel allowance or the living alone allowance.