asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans she has to eliminate the adult dependant's allowance and the application of the sharing of child dependant's allowances; if this will be applied with retrospective effect; the plans she has to reduce the obvious hardship this will create for some families; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

9.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if she will state if, as a result of the granting of equality to women under the social welfare code, this will apply equally to women who claim unemployment assistance; if married women will qualify for unemployment assistance; the respect in which the new regulations will benefit married or single women who will now claim unemployment assistance; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

14.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if Ireland now complies fully with the requirements of the European Community Equal Treatment Directive; if not, if she will make a statement specifying the areas in which Ireland does not comply; when proposals will be introduced to secure full compliance with the directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

26.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if she will allow retrospective payments to be made to married women whose rates of payments and duration of payments have been equalised as a result of the legislation introduced for the operation of the European Equality Directive; the amount these extra payments will cost; the reason this retrospection has not been allowed to operate from the date of passing of that legislation.

It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 6, 9, 14 and 26 together.

The Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1985, provided for the implementation of EEC Directive 79/7/EEC on equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security. That Act was passed by the Oireachtas in July 1985 and section 24 stated that the Act would come into operation on a date to be fixed by ministerial order.

As is generally known, there was a delay in implementing the Act because of a dispute with one of the trade unions in the Department about staffing issues. In the event, agreement was reached to implement the first phase of the equality measures from 15 May 1986 and legal effect was given to this in the Social Welfare Act, 1986, and by order dated 14 May 1986. Married women now get the same personal rates of benefits as men and single women and they are also entitled to unemployment benefit for the standard duration of 390 days.

It is my intention to bring the remaining equal treatment provisions into effect at the earliest opportunity. Married women will then be entitled to claim unemployment assistance in their own right, and will qualify for payment provided they satisfy the means test and fulfil the usual conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work. The position in relation to single women will not change because they are already entitled to claim unemployment assistance under current legislation.

The second phase of equality will also mean that the same conditions will apply to both men and women in the matter of increases in social welfare payments for adult and child dependants. The revised definition of adult dependency is based on the principle that one spouse will be regarded as dependent on the other only if he or she is being wholly or mainly maintained by that spouse. Where neither spouse is dependent on the other, 50 per cent of the child dependant allowances will be paid to each claimant.

However, where the spouse of the claimant is regarded as an adult dependant the full child dependant allowances will be paid to that claimant. Special alleviating measures are being drawn up in recognition of the drop in household income which some families would suffer following implementation of the revised definition of dependency. It is proposed that a working spouse earning £50 a week or less will continue to be regarded as an adult dependant. In the case of families where both spouses are at present independently entitled to benefit a special transitional payment of £10 a week will be made to mitigate the overall loss of income which the family would otherwise suffer.

The equality measures in force since last May will cost an estimated £16.8 million in a full year. The question of retrospection is a difficult one because as well as providing increases for some people the equality provisions also involve a reduction in entitlements. Selective retrospection for some but not for others would be difficult to justify and for that reason there are no plans for retrospective application of the equality measures.