AID FOR INVALIDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 205, 29 August 1936, Page 12

AID FOR INVALIDS.

DETAILS OF SCHEME.

MAXIMUM OF £4 WEEKLY.

ELIGIBIIiITY OF THE BLIND.

(By ■Telegrnpti.—Parliamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, this day.

Every person of the agpc of 10 years and upwards will be entitled to the invalidity pension if they are totally blind, or are permanently incapacitated for work as a result of an accident, by reason of illness, or any congenital defect.

A person who would not qualify for the old-age pension cannot secure the invalidity pension. Ts.e must have resided in New Zealand for at least ten years, but there may be a break of the aggregate period of six months.

In the case of a blind person absence for vocational training or medical treatment will not preclude the granting of the pension. In the case of a blind person eligibility for the pension is the fact that the person was born' blind in New Zealand, or became blind while permanently residing here. In the case of other applicants eligibility consists of the fact that a person was born in New Zealand with the condition to which his incapacity for work is attributable, or that he became incapacitated for work by reason of an accident happening in New Zealand or illness contracted here. Self-induced Accident. A pension will not be granted in cases of self-induced accident, or where there is an outstanding claim for damages or compensation. In the case of a married man, with a wife dependent on him, the pension is £1 a week, with 10/ for his wife and 10/ for every child. In the case of a widower, the rate is the same, and in every other case the rate is £1. In the case of a married man or a widower, the annual amount of any pension computed shall be diminished by £1 for every £1 of the total income of the applicant, and of his wife and dependent children in excess of £104; also by £1 for every complete £10 of the net capital value of the accumulated property of the applicant, his wife and children, computed as in fhe case of an application for the old-age pension. In other cases the amount is to be diminished 'by £1 for every £1 of the annual income of the applicant in excess of £52, and by £1 for every £10 of the net capital value of the accumulated property. Computation of Income. In computing the income of any blind person, personal earnings up to £2 15/ weekly are not to be taken into account. The maximum invalidity pension will be £4 weekly. A step-child or child legally adopted comes within the definition of "child," and there is a provision empowering- the Commissioner of Pensions, in computing the amount of the pension payable, to have regard for any child maintained by the- applicant as if the child were the applicant's child, and dependent on him. Blind pensioners may receive an additional pension by way of a bonus in respect of personal earnings. Such bonus is 25 per cent of the average weekly earnings for the year, but the total receipts of the pensioner in his own right, irrespective of the source, may exceed £3 15/ weekly. Anybody undergoing sentence of imprisonment, or being maintained at the expense of the Government as an inmate of any public institution, will not foe eligible for the pension, but payment can be made in respect of the wife and children of the pensioner. A blind person under 20 years of age may have his pension suspended if he refuses to: undergo vocational training. Applicants may also have to submit to a medical examination, and, in the event of a pension being cancelled, there is the right of appeal to a board of three medical practitioners. . Case of Aliens. The provisions in the principal Act, which precluda the application of the old-age pension to" naturalised subjects, except to those who have been naturalised for one year, and to Chinese and. other Asiatics, whether naturalised or not, and whether British subjects by birth or not, have been repealed.