Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of working and non-working women respectively who have personal or occupational pensions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7983/07]

Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on the assertion made by a company (details supplied) that three out of four women will be dependent on someone else for their retirement income; his concerns regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7984/07]

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps he will take to facilitate women forced out of employment due to the marriage rule to avail of contributory pensions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7940/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 71 and 90 together.

The most recent figures published by the CSO for supplementary pensions coverage relate to the fourth quarter of 2005 and show that 50.6% of women in employment had a private or occupational pension, compared to a coverage rate for men of 58.3% and a rate of 55% for the workforce as a whole. This is a significant improvement on the 2002 position when 44.6% of women had such coverage. The gap between coverage rates for men and women has narrowed from about 11% to just under 8%. Nevertheless, the number of women with pensions coverage remains below average. The survey referred to by the Deputy assumes that women who are at present outside the paid workforce do not have a pension. There are no figures available on this aspect of the pensions situation so it is not possible to comment in any detail on the conclusions of the survey in question. However given a workforce participation rate for women of 60% and pensions coverage reaching about 50% of these, it is clear that a sizeable number do not have any supplementary pensions coverage. Changes in insurability of employment for PRSI purposes, particularly the extension of cover to part-time workers in 1991 and the operation of the home-maker's scheme will, in the future, ensure social welfare pension entitlement for most women.

Women who left the workforce through the operation of the marriage bar were, in the main, public servants who were never insured for social welfare pension purposes. Accordingly, the loss of pension rights in their case relates more to their occupational position rather than social welfare pension entitlements. That said, the Government is anxious to ensure that as many people as possible can be accommodated within the social welfare pensions system, with due regard being paid to the contributory principle underlying entitlement to contributory payments and, in the case of non-contributory payments, the need to ensure that resources are directed to those who are most in need. Currently, there are some 47,000 people who are not receiving a pension payment in their own right or as a qualified adult on the pension of their spouse or partner. These are mainly former public servants and self-employed people who were close to retirement or had retired before 1988, when the self-employed were brought within the social insurance system, together with their spouses. The issues in relation to this group will be discussed in the forthcoming Green Paper on pensions and decisions regarding pension provision for them will be made in the context of the consultation process which will follow its publication and the framing of a long-term policy for overall pension provision. The Green Paper is due to be finalised by the end of March.

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the expected number of contributory pensioners who will be eligible for the fuel allowance in 2007 as a result of the changes to the additional income disregard introduced in Budget 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7981/07]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the cost involved in extending the qualification criteria for the fuel allowance for low income families where a number are receiving social welfare payments. [8000/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 and 79 together.

The national fuel scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive payments to meet the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowances are paid for 29 weeks from the end of September to mid-April. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating expenses. It is not intended to meet the costs in full. Improvements to the fuel allowance in recent years include easing the means test, extending the duration of payment from 26 to 29 weeks and increasing by €5 the rate of payment in the 2006 budget. In Budget 2007, I have provided for an increase in the rate of fuel allowance of €4 from €14 to €18 — €21.90 in designated smokeless areas — and I have increased the income threshold for eligibility to fuel allowance by €49 from €51 to €100 above the state pension (contributory) rate. Some 274,000 people benefited from the fuel allowance in 2006 at an estimated annual cost of €125.1m. As a consequence of the increase in rate and the increase in the income threshold for eligibility announced in the recent Budget, annual expenditure on the scheme in 2007 will increase by an estimated €36.4 million. The total annual cost in 2007 is estimated at €161.5m. The increase in the rate of fuel allowance to €18 per week as announced as part of Budget 2007 will give over 274,000 people entitled to the allowance additional help to meet their heating costs. The increase in the income threshold to €100 above the maximum state pension (contributory) will allow more people to qualify for fuel allowance. While it is difficult to calculate the number benefiting as a result of this increase in the threshold, estimates indicate that up to 8,000 additional people could qualify for fuel allowance. In 2006, some 41,000 recipients of State Pension (Contributory) and State Pension (Transition) received a fuel allowance.

Eligibility to the fuel allowance scheme is subject to means. The main conditions that apply to the fuel allowance scheme are that a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment, satisfy a means test and must either be living alone or only with a qualifying dependant. The household composition and means test rules for fuel allowance scheme qualifying purposes are to ascertain the ability of applicant households to meet their normal heating requirements out of their own resources and to ensure that the maximum amount of support is targeted at those most in need of the fuel allowance support. Only one fuel allowance is paid per household. People who already qualify for means-tested pensions or allowances such as state pension (non-contributory), long-term jobseeker's assistance or one-parent family payment do not have to undergo a further means test to qualify for fuel allowance. Most people who receive fuel allowances qualify because they satisfy the relevant means test for their primary weekly payment. In the case of contributory pensions such as state pension (contributory), state pension (transition) and invalidity pensions, which are not means tested, from January 2007, a person may have a combined household income of up to €100 per week, or savings and investments of up to €58,000, over and above the maximum state pension (contributory) rate and still qualify for fuel allowance. The fuel allowance income limits increase each season in line with the increases in the state pension (contributory) rate. Statistics are not available on the number of fuel allowance applications refused on the basis of other social welfare recipients residing with the fuel allowance claimant. As a result it is not possible to estimate the cost of allowing more than one fuel allowance per household where a number of people in a house are receiving welfare payments.

Fuel allowances are incorporated in the recipient's weekly social welfare payment. The Government's objective is to ensure that the recipient's total weekly income, including the fuel allowance, is sufficient to meet all their income needs, including heating costs. Budget resources are concentrated on providing significant real increases over and above inflation each year in all primary social welfare pension, benefit and assistance rates. The increases of €16 and €18 per week in the rates of payment for contributoryand non-contributory pensions respectively announced in the recent budget is a continuation of this policy. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances that have special heating needs. An application for a heating supplement may be made by contacting the community welfare officer at the local Health Centre. Any changes in relation to provision of basic income support, fuel allowance or the household benefits package would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in the light of the resources available for improvements in social welfare generally.