Written answers

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Social Welfare Benefits

9:00 pm

Photo of Tom HayesTom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 751: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of households and payments that have been delayed due to poor weather conditions; the facilities that are available to those affected by delayed payments; when this will be rectified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1193/10]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department administers a variety of schemes which have a weekly and monthly payment cycle. For the most part the delays experienced related to customers on weekly payment cycles who are payable by cheque.

On 6 January 2010 An Post was unable to collect 27,000 social welfare cheques from the Department's Dublin computer centre due to adverse weather conditions. The customers mainly affected were in receipt of illness benefit, supplementary welfare allowance and family income supplement, with small additional numbers for rent supplement, mortgage interest supplement, disability allowance, jobseeker's and one parent family payments. The cheques were collected early the following morning and all Dublin payments were made on schedule that afternoon but payments outside Dublin were delivered one day late.

My Department issued a press release and included details on the Department's website informing customers of the delay and advising them to contact their Community Welfare Officer if they were experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the delay.

Throughout the period of bad weather, An Post made every effort to ensure the delivery of social welfare customer cheques. In cases where deliveries of customer cheques were affected by the weather, An Post put in place a cheque collection facility which enabled customers to collect their cheques from their local mail delivery office. There is no data available on the numbers of customers who used this facility.

It should be noted that the non-collection of cheques on 6th January represented less that nine per cent of supplementary welfare monthly cheque transactions and six per cent of illness benefit transactions. Over ninety per cent of transactions, paid electronically through their bank or financial institution or with their Social Services Card in An Post, were unaffected.

Photo of Jack WallJack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 752: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding an application for disability allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1194/10]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Disability Allowance is a weekly Allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged over 16 and under 66. The disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and a habitual residence test.

The person concerned applied for Disability Allowance on 10 June, 2008. Her claim was assessed by a Medical Assessor who deemed that she was not medically suitable for the Allowance. Her claim was sent to a Social Welfare Inspector for an assessment of her means and following an investigation the Inspector was unable to establish her means. The person concerned was refused Disability Allowance on 21 July 2008 on the grounds that she was not substantially restricted in undertaking suitable employment by reason of a specified disability and had failed to show that her means did not exceed the statutory limit for receipt of the Allowance.

The person concerned appealed this decision and following a medical she was deemed suitable for the Allowance. Her file was returned to the Social Welfare Inspector to again investigate her means. Following receipt of the Social Welfare Inspector's report the person has been awarded a reduced rate Disability Allowance at a personal weekly rate of €97.80 from 11 June 2008, €104.30 from 31 December 2008 and €96.00 from 6 January 2010. She has also been awarded a weekly Living Alone Allowance of €7.70 and a Free Fuel Allowance of €20 .00, her total current weekly payment will be €123.70. A formal notification has issued ad vising her of this decision and of her right of appeal to the Social Welfare Appeal's Office.

Payment will be available for the person to collect at Athy Post Office on 10 February 2010. Any arrears due to her will issue thereafter.

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