Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons receiving the disability allowance of €35 per week; the amount spent on the scheme; if he has satisfied himself that persons who are entitled to receive payment under the scheme are receiving such payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30874/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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With effect from 1 June 2005 a new weekly disability allowance expenses payment of €35 has been made to people resident in institutions who previously did not qualify for a disability allowance payment. This allowance has also replaced pocket money and other allowances that were formerly paid to such residents by the Health Service Executive. The number in receipt of the allowance is 2,737 and expenditure on the scheme in 2005 is estimated to be €3 million. I took this decisive measure to remove the anomaly whereby people with disabilities who were resident in a health board institution prior to August 1999 were not generally entitled to receive disability allowance as long as they continued to reside in an institution. This situation dates back to the variety of arrangements that applied under the old disabled person's maintenance allowance, DPMA, scheme that was administered by the health boards up to October 1996 and continued when that scheme transferred over to the Department of Social Welfare.

My Department completed a comprehensive inquiry and information gathering exercise with the Health Service Executive with a view to arranging the payment of this new allowance. My Department is satisfied that this exercise identified all entitled persons with disabilities between 16 and 66 years of age, who were residing in an institution on a permanent basis. The introduction of the allowance was effectively and efficiently managed by the Department and resulted in virtually all eligible persons receiving their allowance with effect from 1 June 2005. Services level agreements have been put in place with the relevant institutions. These agreements explicitly require the service provider to ensure that this payment is exclusively used for the recipient's personal benefit.

With regard to consultation and communication, my Department through its disability consultative forum met the representative organisations and disability service providers on 9 December 2004, 10 March 2005 and 28 June 2005, respectively, regarding payment of the allowance. All members of the forum have been fully updated on progress and the detail of how the payment is to be administered. All groups welcomed this measure as a very positive development and one which is a platform for finally providing income support to all persons irrespective of their disability or residential status. The wider issue of payment of full disability allowance to persons irrespective of their residential status is being progressed by this Department and the Department of Health and Children and will also be examined further in a budgetary context.