It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 188 and 191 together.
Persons in receipt of an income by way of pension or otherwise from here or abroad may be entitled to a non-contributory Old Age Pension as a supplement to the other income where their total means are below the means limits for the non-contributory pension. The rate of the non-contributory pension varies with the amount of the other income and persons in these circumstances are obliged to inform the Department of any increase in their means and to have their pension adjusted accordingly.
To ensure that these requirements are being met, the Department periodically reviews the means of non-contributory Old Age Pensioners. On a recent review of 8,657 such pensioners, 6,490 had their pensions reduced because of increases in their British Retirement Pension since 1985, 128 had them revoked, 27 were awarded increased pensions and 951 recipients were unaffected.
Approximately 1,300 of these recipients live in County Donegal, and to date, 1,243 have had their income reassessed. Details of the effects of the reassessments on these recipients are not separately available.
The rules relating to the assessment of means are set out in Social Welfare legislation and the Department has no discretion in cases of this nature. However, if the persons concerned are dissatisfied with their means assessments, it is open to them to apply to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office for a further review.