THE Ombudsman is today expected to urge the Department of Social Welfare to pay arrears to hundreds of pensioners who claimed their pensions late through no fault of their own. The sums involved could run to several thousand pounds in some cases.
For years, the Department has been telling pensioners that they can get no more than six months of arrears if they claim their pensions late. This now appears not to be the case.
The Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy, is believed to have discovered that Ministers for Social Welfare had discretion all along to pay full arrears to people who were late in claiming contributory pensions, but that applicants were never told about this. Entitlement to contributory pensions is based on PRSI contributions.
The Ombudsman's report is expected to severely censure the Department for the unfairness of the way in which pensioners have been treated. The report is based on an in depth investigation ordered by Mr Murphy into a number of specific cases. He announced the investigation in his annual report for 1995.
The number of pensioners involved is not known but the Office of the Ombudsman has been receiving up to 12 complaints a year since 1954. As this is likely to represent only a fraction of those who have been refused full arrears the total figure is likely to be many hundreds and possibly more than 1,000.
People fail to claim their pensions at the right starting date for many reasons. The most common, according to previous annual reports, is the sheer complexity of the social welfare system. People may be receiving a lower payment, such as a disability payment, without knowing they could apply for a contributory pension at the age of 65. In some cases, people have been mistakenly advised by accountants or others that they do not quality for the pension.
Up to 1993, only three months' arrears were paid to late claimants. The 1997 Social Welfare Bill extends the period to 12 months and this, too, is expected to be criticised by the Ombudsman today for perpetuating what he considers to be the unfair denial of pensions from the date on which people become entitled to them.