Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will support the case of a person (details supplied). [34736/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE), as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.

The Executive has confirmed that the person concerned has contacted the community welfare officer (CWO) but has not made an application for rent supplement. He was evicted from Dublin City Council housing because of anti-social behaviour. Social welfare legislation provides that the Executive may determine that a person who has been required to deliver up possession of a dwelling provided by a housing authority, because of anti-social behaviour or in the interest of good estate management, shall not be entitled to payment of rent supplement.

The Executive advises that the CWO has asked the person concerned to provide documentary evidence to support a claim for rent supplement and when this is received, his entitlement will be fully examined.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 235: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the back to education allowance will be approved in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of the circumstances of their case. [34921/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned is 20 years of age. In general, to qualify for a back to education allowance (second level option) a person must be 21 years of age. Exceptions to this condition are made if the applicant has been out of formal education for two years; or has been made redundant and has received statutory redundancy payments. These criteria do not apply in his case. He is, therefore, not eligible for the allowance at this time. He is currently in receipt of a jobseeker's allowance payment at the weekly rate of €197.80.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her views on the inclusion of an allowance towards broadband in the social welfare package of support for the elderly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34949/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The telephone allowance is a component of the household benefits package which also includes the electricity/gas allowance and free television licence schemes. The package is generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare payment or who satisfy a means test. It is also available to people aged under 66 who are in receipt of certain social welfare disability payments or carer's allowance. There are currently in the region of 355,000 people in receipt of the household benefits at an annual cost of €317 million.

The primary objective of the telephone allowance scheme is to ensure access to help in an emergency and to provide an element of security. A secondary objective is to encourage social contact and to assist in the prevention of social isolation for those living alone. The Department has endeavoured to meet the demands of de-regulation, notably in the telecoms market, where it supports multiple providers within the fixed line telephone business.

A restructuring of the telephone allowance to a cash value was undertaken in 2003 and this has facilitated the inclusion of additional providers in the scheme since July 2004. The scheme was further extended to include mobile phones in April 2007 as a result of improvements announced in Budget 2007. Since then, people have the choice of either opting for a direct credit to a telephone company for their landline or for a cash payment in respect of their mobile phone. This means that it is no longer necessary for a person to have a fixed line phone in order to benefit from the telephone allowance. There are currently approximately 15,000 people availing of the mobile phone option.

It should be noted that where people access the internet using a landline, the telephone allowance applies to their bill usage and will cover the cost of calls or internet usage up to the level of their allowance.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 237: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will investigate an application for disability allowance by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry as this person was twice refused without being examined by a medical professional; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34956/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned, made an application for disability allowance on 14 January 2008 at which time she was assessed by a Medical Assessor of the Department who considered her to be medically unsuitable for disability allowance. She appealed this decision on 5 March 2008 and, in the context of this appeal, she was examined by a second Medical Assessor on 24 April 2008 who also expressed the opinion that she was medically unsuitable for disability allowance.

I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that, in the light of this second medical opinion, she was afforded an opportunity of setting out the complete and up to date grounds of her appeal and to furnish any further medical evidence she wished to submit. Her reply, along with further medical evidence was sent to the Chief Medical Advisor, who expressed the opinion that this evidence would not affect the previous findings by the Medical Assessors.

In accordance with the statutory requirements, the Department was asked for the documentation in the case and the Deciding Officer's comments on the grounds of the appeal.

These were returned to the Social Welfare Appeals Office and the case has now been referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing. The person concerned will be informed when arrangements have been made. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of the Department that is independently responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.