Government provisions benefiting a particular group sometimes leave another set of individuals in the regulation black hole. A Family Money reader, Mr G, from north Dublin found this was the case when he received a letter from the pensions service office in the Department of Social Welfare.

Mr G has been receiving a Contributory Old Age Pension since July 1996 that included an allowance for his wife up to December 4th of this year. At the beginning of the year he was informed that this allowance was being terminated as his wife's pension now exceeded the £60 per week level which was the statutory regulation in force in October 1995.

His wife's pension increase was granted by her private employer to a gross of £63.14 per week pre-tax.

Mr G is annoyed that they will now lose £52.50 per week leaving them with just £78.10 per week as his wife is not entitled to State pension benefits for another seven years.

Our reader took up the matter with their TD, Mr Richard Bruton, who wrote back saying: "I have investigated this and am dismayed to discover that whereas if someone on unemployment benefit has a working wife, they can earn up to £90 without affecting the adult dependant allowance. By contrast, in the case of contributory pensioners the limit is £60. A concession introduced a couple of years ago does not appear to have been extended to contributory pensioners."

In December, Mr Bruton promised to take the matter up with senior officials in the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs in the hope that they would rectify the situation in the budget.

Officials at the Department acknowledged to Family Money that the concession still does not apply to Old Age (Contributory) Pensioners.

"Since 1986 when equal treatment regulations were introduced, an income limit has applied to payment of the Qualified Adult Allowance (QAA). This current limit stands at £60 a week," a spokesman said.

In order to alleviate a poverty trap and disincentive to employment associated with the complete withdrawal of the QAA once the spouse's income exceeded £60 a week, regulations were introduced in 1997 which provided for a tapered withdrawal of the QAA where a spouse's earnings ranged between £60 and £90 a week, he said.

This provision applied to Unemployment Benefit, Unemployment Assistance, Disability Benefit, Disability Allowance, Pre-Retirement Allowance, Injury Benefit and Unemployment Supplement.

"The provision was restricted to those schemes on the basis of giving priority to those schemes where disincentives to employment were having the most impact. Any extension of this provision to other categories of welfare claimants, such as Old Age Contributory Pensions recipients would have cost implications and would have to be considered in a budgetary context," said the spokesman.

It seems that Mr G and others like him must lobby their representatives and wait for next year's budget before gaining a possible resolution to the issue. While Government provisions encouraging people into employment are a positive step, giving workers the impression that they are not eligible for benefits after paying into the system will leave many, like Mr G, with a bitter taste and fewer pounds in their pockets during retirement.