Children
- Child benefit is paid for all children (from June 2001, £67.50 per month for the first two, £86 for others) up to their 16th birthday, or 19th birthday if in full-time education or with a disability. A 50% higher rate is payable for twins.
- Child Dependent Allowance is paid to persons on social welfare up to the 18th birthday. A person on a long-term social welfare payment can claim up to 22nd birthday if in full-time education. Basic rate is £13.20, but one parent families receive £15.20, widow(ers) £17.00 per week.
- At 18, a single person living at home who has left school can apply for unemployment assistance, but will be assessed with 17% of their parents' disposable income (after tax, mortgage/rent and the cost of travelling to work). Once you qualify for any payment, a minimum £25.00 per week is paid.
- The Health Board pays Domicilliary Care Allowance £129.00 per month and an annual respite grant of £300 for children up to their 16th birthday with a disability who require considerable extra care.
- An orphan qualifies for £63.60 per week (may be contributory or means tested).
Family Income Supplement
A couple or a single parent on low pay, who work for at least 19 hours per week combined (including job-sharers) can get a supplement for their children (including those 18-22 in full-time education). The payment is calculated at 60p for each £1 by which your take home pay (ie net of tax, PRSI levies and superannuation) falls below the following income:
- £258 from May 2001 for a family with one child, plus
- £20 (approx) for each of the other children.
If you qualify, the payment will last at least 52 weeks and also entitles you to a back-to-school payment from the Health Board, the reduced rate of fuel allowance, and will not affect your eligibility for a medical card.
Back to Work Scheme
The Back to Work Scheme allows you retain social welfare for three years (75%, 50%, 25% of your former payment) when you take up work or if setting up your own business. To qualify, you must be:
- unemployed, aged at least 23 and signing for UA continuously for over a year getting at least £40 (single), £62 (married) or signing on for at least 2 of the last 3 years, or
- on One Parent Family Payment, Carers Allowance, Disability Allowance or Invalidity Pension.
The allowance is not liable to tax or PRSI. If setting up your own business, you get 100% of your welfare payment as an extra year.
Supplementary Welfare
The Community Welfare Officer in the Health Board may help out with the following:
- A weekly payment if you are sick or unemployed and have not received social welfare
- A supplement towards rent or mortgage interest and house insurance if after paying these you are left with less than £78.00 (single), £132.00 (married), plus £13.20 for each child (from April 2001). The supplement brings your income back up to this level. A non-working spouse, a part-time worker or an unemployed person can apply. PRSI and the cost of travelling to work are disregarded in the means test. For a part-time worker £25 income is also disregarded. For persons on Social welfare £5 income is disregarded. Help with rent deposits can also be given by Westmeath County Council. Caps apply to the rent depending on family size. You should contact your CWO before entering into a tenancy agreement.
People going on to Back to Work or Community Employment Schemes after 12 months on Social Welfare will have tapered withdrawal of such a supplement over 4 years (75%, 50%, 35% and 25%) so long as your gross household income (excluding BTW and FIS) does not exceed £250 per week.
- A supplement towards the cost of a prescribed diet or special heating needs.
- A back-to-school payment of £63 for primary pupils, £78 for secondary school pupils and an equal payment for a Communion or Confirmation if you are on Social Welfare and your weekly income is not more than £5 over the weekly contributory pension rate.
- A once-off payment for unforeseen needs such as a funeral, fares to visit or attend hospital, a robbery, fire or flood, or for unaffordable essential needs such as furniture or kitchen equipment when setting up home for the first time, pregnancy and a new baby, clothing following chronic illness or hospitalisation.
- Help with ESB/Gas may be given if something entirely unforeseeable causes hardship, or if the repayment schedule sought by the ESB/Gas to sort out a serious arrear causes excessive hardship.
- A money advice and budgeting service is available to advise on indebtedness (Tel: 044-40871).
In assessing eligibility, the CWO takes into account all income coming into the house including part-time earnings of a spouse and income of other adults. Full-time students and persons working over 30 hours are not generally eligible. Detailed booklets are available. Decisions can be appealed to the Midland Health Board (Tel: 044-40221).
Fuel Scheme
A winter fuel allowance of £5 a week is payable if you are on long-term Social Welfare with no more than £40 per week over the contributory rate. However, to qualify, you must be living alone, or only with dependents or another person on long-term social welfare or on UA. Payments have been extended to 29 weeks per year.
Free Schemes
If you are 66 or over or permanently incapacitated, and living alone except for dependents, another pensioner or someone giving you full-time care, you can receive the following concessions along with your Irish or British social welfare pension:
- ESB standing charges plus 1,500 units per year (or help with bottled gas)
- Free colour television licence
- Telephone rental plus 120 units per year (only if living entirely alone, or with children, a person giving you full-time care or another person aged 66 or over where one or other of you is certified unable to get help in an emergency).
If you are aged 70 or over, you can qualify for all of these free schemes regardless of who lives with you (new age limit effective from May 2001). If you are widowed and aged 60 or over, you can retain the free schemes and free travel if your late spouse had them and you satisfy the other conditions.
Pensioners who don't have a social welfare pension can qualify on the same terms provided their gross income does not exceed £136.00 (single), £142.00 (single and living alone), £204.20 (married with spouse under 66).
Treatment Benefit
Fully insured workers (and their spouse) qualify for dental, optical and hearing benefit regardless of the level of your income provided you have:
- 260 paid contributions (or if under 25 years, 39 paid will suffice) and
- 39 contributions paid or credited in at least one of the last four tax years of which at least 13 must be paid.
Carers, pensioners and those on long term Social Welfare do not need to meet the "13 paid" condition. Survivors retain entitlement for life regardless of the age of the deceased spouse at death. Dependent Spouses who take up employment will retain entitlement until qualified in their own right. Persons who qualify at age 60 retain entitlement for life.
Social Welfare Pensions
The rate of contributory Old Age Pension depends on the average Class A contributions per year, paid or credited since 1953, or since you first entered insurance, according to the following scale:
| Yearly Average |
Pension Payable |
| 10-14 |
50% |
| 15-19 |
75% |
| 20-47 |
92-97% |
| 48 and over |
100% |
If you do not qualify on your Irish Class A stamps, you can still qualify for a pro-rata proportion of the above pensions on the basis of counting both non-Irish and Irish contributions or counting both Class A and Public Service contributions. Persons who entered insurance before 1953 can qualify for a 50% pension, provided that, when you value two pre-1953 paid contributions as equivalent to three post-1953, you can reach 260 paid in total.
Non-contributory Old Age pension depends on a means test. Each spouse can separately apply for a full payment of £95.50 each. Means assessed includes both cash income and also property (other than your home) or savings valued as follows:
| First £10,000 (each) |
nil |
| Next £10,000 (each) |
£10 per week |
| Next £10,000 (each) |
£20 per week |
| Each subsequent £10,000 (each) |
£40 per week |
A person who sells their house and moves to a smaller house or to a nursing home will have the first £150,000 of remaining proceeds exempted in assessing their means for NCOAP.
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