Ireland and the Minimum Income Guarantee - Combat Poverty Agency

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Detailed Descriptions of the Existing Schemes who do not have access to income from other sources, including Social Insurance, are entitled to assistance from the State. The Social Insurance system covers only widows/deserted wives who meet the contribution conditions (either on the basis of their own insurance record or that of their husband). Widows and lone parents would only be eligible for UA if they are available for and actively seeking work. The Lone Parent's Allowance is therefore intended to assist those without insurance entitlement who, because they have child dependants, are not available for full-time work. Widow's Pension, Deserted Wife's Allowance and Prisoner's Wife's Allowance are intended to assist married women who are no longer supported by a spouse and have no such insurance entitlement, implicitly on the basis that even without child dependants they may not be in a position to work. Justification for such support could be by reference to provisions in the Constitution guaranteeing support for the family, recognising the role of mothers in the home, and pledging the State to safeguard with special care the economic interests of weaker sections of the community and, where necessary, to contribute to the support of the infirm, the widow, the orphan and the aged. Entitlement to Lone Parent's Allowance is established at the level of the family in the sense that only where there are dependent children present, and no spouse, can the parent be eligible. Entitlement to widow s Pension, Deserted Wife's Allowance, Prisoner's Wife's Allowance and Orphan's Pension is at the level of the individual. The problem of trying to obtain maintenance for deserted wives from their husbands has received a good deal of attention in public ueDates, as has the possible incentive to having children outside marriage provided by the Lone Parents Allowance. The impact of the incentives rereZT ^ l *° ""d work, even part-time, has also received considerable attention in public debates Attributes Conditions of Access To qualify for Widow's Pension an individual must: i) be a widow resident in the State; ii) not be cohabiting; iii) satisfy the means test. Children qualify for Orphan's Non-Contributory Pension where they do not qualify for a Contributory allowance and where: i) both parents are dead; ii) one parent has died and the other is unknown; iii) one parent has died and the other parent has refused/failed to provide for the child; iv) they are not living with step-parents; v) they satisfy the means test. To qualify for Deserted Wife's Allowance an individual must: i) have been deserted for at least 3 months without receiving adequate maintenance from her husband; ii) have made reasonable efforts to get maintenance; iii) be over 40 years of age and have no child dependants; iv) not be cohabiting; v) satisfy the means test. To qualify for Prisoner's Wife's Allowance an individual must: 0 have a husband who has been either sentenced to prison for six months or more or has been in custody for six months without sentencing; ii) be over 40 years of age and have no child dependants; iii) satisfy the means test. To qualify for Lone Parent's Allowance an individual must: 0 have at least one child dependant; ii) be without the support of a spouse - that is, be widowed, separated, deserted, unmarried or a prisoner's spouse; -tO 41
Detailed Descriptions of the Existing Schemes iii) not be cohabiting or receiving adequate maintenance; iv) satisfy the means test. Nationality is not a condition of access. Nationals residing abroad would not be eligible. Availability for work or training is not a condition for any of these schemes. Organisation The Department of Social Welfare is responsible for implementation of the schemes. The individual submits the application for payment to the Department of Social Welfare, which examines and decides on whether the individual meets the qualifying conditions and satisfies the means test. The Department also pays out the pension/allowance. Applicants may appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The Allowance The amount paid is for the individual or the lone parent plus child dependants. There is no explicit official reference standard for the payment rates set from year to year, nor for the levels initially set. There is no automatic indexation in line with prices or earnings, etc. Rates nave in practice generally been increased by at least as much as consumer prices in recent years, and official announcements of rate increases generally set them in the context of the increase in general consumer prices. The amounts to be paid are set at national level, in „; P f^ed , by P^ament, and are generally announced as part of the Statement The the State amounts paid are uniform throughout ^TmZ^J^Ch arC t3ken int ° aCCOUnt in determining the appli- • cash income • value of property excluding dwelling value of investments and capital. In the case of capital, for example savings deposits, a notional interest rate is applied to calculate "income" to be counted as means, rather than taking actual income accruing. The calculation of notional interest which could be earned on capital would including inheritances as capital, but such inheritances would not count directly as income. For Orphan's Pension, these income sources refer to the child's own income. The value of board and lodging is not taken into account in the means test for any of these schemes. Earnings and other income, including income imputed from capital using a notional interest rate, count towards means, subject to a disregard of £6 per week. For Lone Parent's Allowance earnings of a further £24 per week will not be counted as means, child-minding and travel to work expenses for those in work are also deducted from earnings in arriving at the amount to be counted as means, and only half of any earnings in excess of the amount disregarded counts as means. Other social welfare payments are not counted as means. In the case of Deserted Wife's Allowance, maintenance payments from the husband count as means. For unmarried mothers receiving Lone Parent's allowance, maintenance payments for the child do not count as means. Aid in kind is not generally included in the calculation of means. The rates are set and paid in weekly terms. The weekly guaranteed amounts under the Orphan's Pension from mid-June 1995 is £41.40 per week. Deserted Wife's Allowance and Prisoner's Wife's Allowance from mid-June 1995 pay a maximum rate of £62.50 per week (those who qualify under these schemes can have no adult or child dependants). Recipients of Widow's Non-Contributory Pension and Lone Parent's Allowance are guaranteed the amounts shown in Table 7: 42 43
Page 1 and 2: Ireland and the 'Minimum Income Gua
Page 5 and 6: emerge from the expected publicatio
Page 9 and 10: In June 1992, the Council of the Eu
Page 11 and 12: minimum income scheme. For the coun
Page 13 and 14: Social Assistance and the Irish Soc
Page 15 and 16: 5. A final issue is that there is n
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Page 39 and 40: 63 Detailed Descriptions of the Exi
Page 41 and 42: Pre-retirement Allowance Payable to
Page 43 and 44: Evaluation of the Guarantee Provide
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Page 47 and 48: Appendix The first is that the reco
Page 49 and 50: Appendix - subject to active availa
Page 51 and 52: CULLEN, B., (1989): Poverty, Commun

Ireland and the Minimum Income Guarantee - Combat Poverty Agency

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