John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 752: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will review the regulation which allows a person in receipt of a blind pension to also receive disability benefit only until they reach the age of 65 years at which point they lose one of the payments; his views on whether this can cause financial hardship at a time when the need for such persons may be greater; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25528/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The qualifying conditions for the payment of disability benefit are that a person is under 66 years of age, unfit for work due to illness and satisfies the PRSI contribution conditions. Persons over the age of 66 are not insurable under the Social Welfare Acts for disability benefit purposes and the age limit for receipt of disability benefit is 66 years.

There is a general rule in the social welfare code whereby a person who is entitled to more than one payment at any one time may only receive one of these payments. However, there are some exceptions to this rule which includes, historically, the treatment of persons in receipt of blind pension. A person in receipt of a blind pension aged under 66 who has sufficient PRSI contributions may also be eligible to receive disability benefit, unemployment benefit, maternity benefit, adoptive benefit, or health and safety benefit. Alternatively, they may concurrently receive widow's or widower's pension or one-parent family payment. However, once a person reaches 66 years of age, only one payment may be made.

The payment rate of blind pension increases at age 66 years or over from a maximum personal rate of €148.80 per week to a maximum rate of €166.00, with increases per week for qualified adults and/or dependants. This payment rate is equivalent to the rate of old age non-contributory pension. If the person qualifies for payment of the old age contributory pension, this is paid at a higher rate. Entitlement to extra benefits such as the free travel pass and household benefits package also applies to these payments. In cases of exceptional need, assistance is available under the supplementary welfare scheme, administered by the Health Services Executive. Any changes to current entitlements would have implications for other categories of social welfare recipients and would have to be considered in the context of the budgetary social welfare package.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 753: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will consider increasing the income limit for persons in receipt of widow's benefit in line with inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25529/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Widows and widowers can qualify for one of a number of different schemes depending on their particular circumstances. The contributory widow's or widower's pension is available to those who satisfy the necessary PRSI contribution conditions, either on their own record or that of the deceased spouse. Those qualifying for this benefit are not subject to any means test. Those without the necessary PRSI contributions can, if they have qualifying children, receive the one-parent family payment. This is a means tested payment but it does feature a reasonable earnings disregard which is designed to assist with the extra costs those with children face in trying to access training or employment. Up to €146.50 of earnings per week is completely disregarded, while earnings in excess of that, and up to €293 per week are assessed at 50%.

Widows or widowers without qualifying children can apply for the widows or widowers non-contributory pension. There is no specific earnings disregard associated with this payment but a standard allowance of €7.60 per week is applied to all income. In addition, from June this year, up to €20,000 in capital is disregarded when means are being assessed. An improvement in the income disregard for people in receipt of widows or widowers non-contributory pension would have cost implications and could only be considered in a budgetary context.