Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 50, 60, 74 and 82 together.

In response to the ongoing cost-of-living pressures as part of budget 2023 I secured more than €2.1 billion in new measures. This is the largest social protection package in the history of the State. Recognising that the autumn and winter period is the most expensive time of the year for many households, rather than waiting until the new year, €1.1 billion of this package has been targeted to provide for a wide range of lump-sum payments which will be paid out in the coming months. These payments are in addition to a wide range of increases that will come into effect from January. My Department is currently putting in place the necessary IT systems and administrative processes to administer the various lump-sum payments. The cost-of-living supports recently announced will be paid on the following dates: the autumn cost-of-living double-week payment to most weekly social protection schemes will be paid during the week commencing 17 October 2023. That is next week. The double payment of child benefit to support families with children will be paid alongside the regular child benefit that is due to be paid on 1 November. Families who receive child benefit will get a double payment on 1 November.

The following cost-of-living measures will be paid during the week commencing 14 November. There will be a €400 lump-sum fuel allowance payment to all households receiving the fuel allowance; a €200 lump-sum payment for pensioners and people with a disability receiving the living alone allowance; a €500 lump-sum payment to all families in receipt of the working family payment and a €500 lump-sum payment to those on disability allowance, blind pension and invalidity pension; and a €500 lump-sum payment will be paid to those in receipt of the carer’s support grant during the week commencing 21 November 2022. In addition a 100% Christmas bonus will be paid to long-term social welfare recipients during the week beginning 5 December 2022.

In addition to these measures in 2022 I announced a series of measures as part of budget 2023 which take effect in January. These include a €12 increase which will be provided on weekly payments with additional increases to those people with qualified adults; an increase in the income thresholds on working family payment by €40 across the board. This will benefit working families on the payment by up to €24 per week.

There is a significant increase in the income threshold for people over 70. From 1 January 2023 it will be €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. That means a single person can earn up to €500 a week and a couple can earn €1,000 per week. In addition I am improving the standard fuel allowance means test for the scheme, for those under 70, by raising the means limit from €120 to €200 above the contributory pension rate. This means people will be able to earn €200 above the contributory pension rate from 1 January 2023 and it will not be taken into account when assessing the fuel allowance.

This is something that has been brought up with me during the year and I changed it. That is an improvement.

I am raising the qualified child payment rate for children under 12 by €2, raising it to €42, and by €2 for children over 12 as well, bringing that rate up to €50 per week. Over the past three budgets, we have now increased the under-12 rate by €6 and over-12 rate by €10.

I also announced that we will amend these rules so parents can qualify for domiciliary care allowance when babies do not leave hospital but would otherwise have qualified for the payments. There was a situation where the child had to be at home before people could qualify for the domiciliary care allowance. For some people, having a child in hospital is a very difficult time and there is a lot of extra expense. Even if the child has never been able to come home, unfortunately, we will let them qualify for the domiciliary care allowance.

I am increasing the rate of payment for the domiciliary care allowance, which is monthly, from €309.50 to €330. I am also increasing the earnings disregard on disability allowance to €165 per week to allow those people with disabilities who can work to earn more and retain their social welfare payment. That is a very important measure because there are some people for whom it might be helpful to work part time. This is means they can still keep their payment and do some work. I would encourage them to look at that if they can.

The Government also announced a range of other measures to support households throughout the winter period, in particular three further energy credits, totalling €600, which will be paid to all households, with the first of these being paid before the end of the year.

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