Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his plans to introduce regulations to allow widows who have no other income except the widow's pension to qualify for the free schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18541/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The household benefits package, which comprises the electricity or gas allowance, telephone allowance and television licence schemes, is generally available to people living permanently in the State, aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test.

The package is also available to carers and people with disabilities under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. People aged over 70 years of age can qualify regardless of their income or household composition. Widows and widowers aged from 60 to 65 whose late spouses had been in receipt of the household benefit package retain that entitlement to ensure that households do not suffer a loss of entitlements following the death of a spouse. A range of proposals, including that of the Deputy, has been made to extend the free schemes to other groups. These are kept under review in the context of the objectives of the scheme and budgetary resources.