Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will be assessed for farm assist. [12787/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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There is no record in the Department of an application for farm assist from the person concerned. An application form has been issued to him. On receipt of the completed application form, his entitlement will be considered and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the criteria which will be used for the respite grant as was raised in the budget for 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12788/05]

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 291: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the criteria which will be used for the respite grant, as announced in the budget for 2005, in the Social Welfare Bill; if a person who is giving full-time care but has been refused the carer's allowance owing to the means test will be eligible for the respite grant; if the application forms are available; the way in which persons may apply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12790/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 290 and 291 together.

In the budget for 2005, I announced the extension of the respite care grant scheme to all carers providing full-time care to an older person or a person with a disability, regardless of means and subject to certain qualifying conditions. The respite care grant will continue to be payable to recipients of carer's allowance, carer's benefit, prescribed relative allowance, constant attendance allowance and domiciliary care allowance. Carers who do not qualify for a grant under one of these schemes may now obtain a grant if they and the person for whom they are caring satisfy certain conditions. The grant will be payable to those carers who previously did not qualify for carer's allowance on means grounds provided they satisfy the conditions of the scheme.

Carers must be aged 16 or over; ordinarily resident in the State; caring for the person on a full-time basis for at least six months, which period of care must include the first Thursday in June; living with the person or have a direct system of communication to the person's home. In addition, a carer must not be employed or self-employed for more than ten hours outside the home; getting or entitled to unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance or signing for unemployment credits; living in a hospital, convalescent home or other similar institution. The care recipient must need full-time care and attention, not reside in a hospital convalescent home or other similar institution and not already get full-time care and attention within their own home from another person.

The grant, which is being increased to €1,000, will be payable from 2 June 2005. Application forms and information leaflets will be available from early May. The forms and leaflets will be available throughout my Department's network of local offices and will also be available from citizens' information centres. They may also be requested by phone from my Department or by downloading them from my Department's website.

An extensive publicity campaign is commencing this week and includes advertisements in both provincial and national newspapers as well as posters in various centres and offices. Officials of my Department have already briefed representatives of carers' organisations about the scheme. These organisations will in turn be providing information to their members.

My Department has set up a special section to deal with this scheme. Arrangements are being put in place to ensure applications are processed efficiently and in a timely manner. As part of these arrangements, a dedicated freefone helpline will be operated to coincide with the publicity campaign.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 292: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Clare has been refused the supplementary welfare allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12805/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, a heating supplement may be paid to recipients of social welfare or Health Service Executive payments who have exceptional heating costs due to ill health or infirmity and who are unable to provide for these costs from within their own resources.

The southern area of the executive has advised that an application for a heating supplement from the person concerned was refused on the grounds that the level of his household income was considered to be sufficient to cater for his heating requirements.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 293: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of savings he will make for his Department by forcing all social welfare recipients to accept their payments through a bank rather than the post office network; the damage that will be done, especially to rural communities, if post offices are forced to close; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12820/05]

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 295: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will report on the current agreement with An Post for social welfare payments; if the contract is nearing its end; if so, if it will be given to An Post again; if an open competition will be held, with tenders from different financial institutions; and if the concerns of old age pensioners will be uppermost in his mind when making a decision on the award of contracts for these payments in the future. [12825/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 293 and 295 together.

My Department's policy is to ensure that a range of payment options is available to customers and that service is continually improved by providing access to the wide range of payment options and new services and facilities now available. Customers opting for a particular payment method do so on an entirely voluntary basis having regard to their own circumstances and particular needs.

Current payment methods include payment at post offices by means of a pension order book, electronic or manual postdraft issued to the customer's designated post office each week, payment by cheque to the home address of customers and direct payment to customers' bank or building society accounts by electronic fund transfer. Some 58% of customers receive payment through their local post office, 11% are paid by cheque through the postal system and 31% receive direct electronic payment to their bank or building society account.

In regard to costs, my Department incurs a cost of €1.24 for each payment made through the post office network which amounts to an annual payment to An Post of in excess of €48 million based on current transaction levels. There is no cost to my Department in respect of direct payments lodged to a customer's bank or building society account.

Following the decision in 1999 to extend my Department's existing contractual arrangements with An Post, a complaint was lodged with the European Commission in 2000. That complaint was subsequently referred by the European Commission to the European Court of Justice. In the meantime, An Post, with the agreement of the Commission, has continued since 1 January 2000 to provide services to my Department on an interim basis. There are no plans to change that arrangement. While not wishing to pre-empt the outcome of the case before the European Court of Justice, I am confident that An Post will continue to have an important role in the delivery of services for my Department into the future.