Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 275: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if diabetes sufferers are entitled to apply for the special dietary supplement payable by her Department on account of the modifications that individuals must make to their diets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15549/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a diet supplement may be paid to a person who is receiving a social welfare or health service executive payment where a special diet is prescribed as a result of a specified medical condition and they satisfy a means test. A person's medical condition, such as diabetes, does not qualify them for a diet supplement, rather it is the requirement for a special diet that allows them to be considered for a diet supplement.

The Department commissioned a study by an expert from the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute which was called 'The Examination of the Cost of Healthy Eating and Specialised Diets'. This study which was published in January 2006 recommended a new framework for classifying the various diets that would qualify for a supplement as follows:

(i) Gluten Free Diet

(ii) Low Lactose Milk Free Diet

(iii) High Protein High Calorie Diet

(iv) Liquidised Altered Consistency Diet.