Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 3, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

2.—The Minister shall, within 3 months of the commencement of this Act, lay before each House of the Oireachtas, a report on increasing the Living Alone Allowance.".

The Minister dealt with some of my comments yesterday on Second Stage in his conclusion today. He indicated that priority had been given to personal rates rather than supplements and that the Government had improved the lot of pensioners. I wish to make the point again, as it is important to do so, that I have a difficulty in that the living alone allowance has not been increased since its introduction approximately nine years ago.

If the old age pension is increased, every person in receipt of it will benefit rather than a small group. The difficulty with a living alone allowance is that where a couple is living together and one passes away, whether the couple in question consists of a brother and sister, husband and wife or partners, the other will only have to buy food and clothes for one person but every other household bill will be as expensive as before, whether it is for light, heat, electricity or insurance. In that sense, the living alone allowance has helped such persons to cope with the change from a cost perspective when living on their own. It is more difficult for persons who had not been used to being on their own. It is an important allowance. Although I appreciate everything cannot be increased, this has merit. It may not change as a result of this amendment but I ask the Minister to consider the issue in order that people can be helped, particularly those in the circumstances I have outlined.

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