Written answers

Wednesday, 23 February 2022

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Social Welfare Code

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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167. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the adult dependent allowance is disallowed in cases in which a welfare claimant has put savings in joint names for the purpose of ease of transfer in the event of succession and in which the dependent spouse cannot unilaterally withdraw those savings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10339/22]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Recipients of certain social welfare payments can claim an increase in their payment in respect of a Qualified Adult, subject to a means assessment. A Qualified Adult is the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the recipient who is being wholly or mainly maintained by that claimant.

The means test in respect of the increase for a Qualified Adult applies to both contribution based social insurance payments (where only the means of the Qualified Adult is assessed), and contingency based social assistance payments (where the means of both the main claimant and the qualified adult are assessed),

The means assessed include income from employment or self-employment, non-social welfare pensions, and the capital value of savings, investments and property other than the family home. It should be noted that the value of the family home, regardless of who is the legal owner, is never taken into account in this assessment.

For social assistance schemes, the total household income is always assessed as part of the means test, and as such, the issue of whether savings are held solely by one member of a couple or jointly between them does not arise.

For social insurance schemes, where savings, property or other assets are held jointly, the spouse or partner's means is taken to be half of the total amount.

It is a matter for each couple to decide how their finances are arranged and the Department has no role in this. The current means testing arrangements are based on the actual means of the spouse or partner at any given time.

Any proposals to change the means assessment formula for an Increase for a Qualified Adult would have to be considered in an overall budgetary and policy context.

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