Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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489. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will remove the income threshold for deserted wife benefit which is in place for the years 3 August 1992 to 2 January 1997; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49578/22]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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490. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will index link the income threshold for the deserted wife payment to match the rise in inflation year on year given that no increase has been allowed since its inception; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49579/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 489 and 490 together.

Deserted Wife's Benefit is a payment made to a woman deserted by her husband. Entitlement to the payment is based on social insurance contributions paid by the woman or her husband as well as a number of other qualifying criteria. The Deserted Wife's Benefit scheme was closed off to new applications with effect from 2 January 1997, when One-Parent Family Payment was introduced.

Some women have continued to receive Deserted Wife’s Benefit because they qualified for the payment before 2 January 1997 and have continued to meet the qualifying criteria.

No earnings limit applies to claims made before 30 August 1992. An earnings limit of €12,697.38 was introduced on 31 August 1992 with a reduced rate payable provided earnings did not exceed €17,776.33. From 3 May 2007 the earning limit was increased to €20,000.

There are no plans to change the qualification conditions for the scheme at present. Where a woman no longer meets these conditions but has an income need she may qualify for another payment from my Department.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.