Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 544: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a query by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 5 will be dealt with. [11466/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Health Service Executive has advised that there is no record of an application for mortgage interest supplement from the person concerned. If the person concerned wishes to make an application for mortgage interest supplement then she should contact the community welfare officer at her local health centre who will assess her means and determine entitlement to mortgage interest supplement.

The purpose of mortgage interest supplement is to provide short term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only. The capital element of the repayment is not taken into account in calculating the amount of supplement payable as it is not considered appropriate that the Exchequer should repay part of the initial loan and thereby provide assistance towards the accumulation of a capital asset on the part of the individual concerned.

Under standard SWA rules, mortgage interest supplements are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to their family circumstances less a minimum contribution, currently €13, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €13 because recipients are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appropriate basic SWA rate towards their accommodation costs.

Under this standard assessment, family income supplement is assessed as income in the same way as income from employment or part-time employment. Where a person has an additional income as a result of participation on a training course or in part-time employment, the standard means test now provides that the first €75 of any additional income in excess of the SWA rate can be disregarded in full with 25% of any additional income, with no upper limit, also disregarded for means assessment purposes.