Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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657. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if financial redress payments for mother-and-baby home survivors are taken into account during means tests for individuals receiving a non-contributory pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61122/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Social welfare legislation provides that means tests take account of the income and assets of the person (and their spouse or partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme. Means assessments generally include income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions and maintenance payments. They also include assessment of property owned other than the family home and capital such as cash, savings, shares, and other investments.

Articles 8, 155 and 174 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations 2007, and Article 36 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 2007 provide for the disregard of certain specified income when assessing the means of a person. These disregards include, for example, all income derived from payments awarded by the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal, the Residential Institutions Redress Board and payments made in relation to disability caused by Thalidomide.

S.I. No. 140 of 2024 provided that any payment made under the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, established under section 5 of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023, is also disregarded.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.