Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 303: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the over 80 allowance is automatically paid in respect of the qualified adult on a person's pension and the claimant directly when both people are over the age of eighty years; if not, the amount it would cost to extend the qualified adult allowance element to include the over 80 allowance on an annual basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23305/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The over 80 allowance is an extra payment to people receiving social welfare pensions and in Budget 2006 I was pleased to raise this to €10 per week. The allowance is paid in respect of the main claimant and is not available to those receiving social welfare support as qualified adults on the pension of their spouse or partner. There is no necessity for a person to make an application for payment of the allowance as it is applied automatically to their pension when they reach 80 years of age. At present, there are approximately 5,500 qualified adults who are over 80 years of age on old age contributory and retirement pensions. The cost of extending the allowance to this group would be about €3 million per annum.