Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is considering amending the eligibility criteria for the treatment benefit scheme (details supplied). [34023/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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To qualify for the Treatment Benefit Scheme an individual must satisfy certain PRSI conditions. One such condition requires a claimant to have 39 PRSI contributions paid at the appropriate class (either A, E, H or P) in the relevant tax year or years on which their application is based. The relevant tax years for this claim are 1985, 1991 and 1992. In each of these years PRSI was paid at either class S or class V, neither of which are reckonable for the purposes of qualifying for Treatment Benefit, as a result a grant towards the purchase of hearing aids is not payable. PRSI classes S and V are paid at a reduced contribution rate and have reduced entitlements attaching to them. There are no plans to amend the eligibility criteria for treatment benefit at this time, any proposals in this regard would have to be considered in the context of available resources and competing demands.