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

My priority for budget 2024 was to support families and households throughout the winter and beyond. We have delivered a budget that puts more money back into people's pockets. As Minister for Social Protection, I advocated for the need to look after our pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, working families and vulnerable groups, and this evening I am pleased to set out the details of the largest social protection budget package in the history of the State. The overall social protection budget 2024 package is €2.3 billion. When combined with last year's package, this means we are now investing an additional €4.5 billion in society.

Budget 2024 contains nine lump-sum cost-of-living payments that will ease the financial pressures facing many households. These include a €300 lump-sum payment to all households in receipt of the fuel allowance; a €200 payment to all those in receipt of the living allowance; a double child benefit payment to support all families with young children in the run-up to Christmas; a €400 lump-sum payment for those in receipt of the working family payment, which is a vital support for working families on low incomes; a €400 disability support grant, in recognition of the increased costs faced by people living with disabilities; and a €400 payment to those in receipt of the carer's support grant. The Christmas bonus double payment will be paid in December to support pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and lone parents. We will pay a January bonus, which will be a further double payment, to all those who normally receive the Christmas bonus. We also have an additional lump-sum payment, a new €100 lump-sum payment, on each qualified child payment. Tackling child poverty is a commitment of the Taoiseach, and the Government has put a huge focus on reducing child poverty when framing budget 2024.

Budget 2024 also delivers a comprehensive package of new measures on top of the lump-sum payments I outlined. I have secured a €12 increase in all weekly social welfare payments, taking effect from January, and over the past three budgets I have increased weekly social welfare rates by €29 a week. When we consider that not so long ago, there were budgets in which a €3 increase was the norm, or maybe it was no increase at all, a €29 increase in weekly payments over the lifetime of the Government to date is significant.

I am expanding the hot school meals scheme to a further 900 primary schools and 150,000 children next year. This programme is a priority for me. When this extension takes effect, I will have grown it from just 30 schools to more than 2,000 primary schools nationwide, meaning we are well on our way to universal provision in all primary schools. I am pleased to extend the child benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education, something that was raised me. Most children are starting school at five now and a lot of students are doing transition year, so this extension will be a big help to families. I am also increasing the weekly income threshold of the working family payment by €54, in line with the increase in the minimum wage, to ensure families will get the benefit in their pocket. I am also extending the parent's benefit by two weeks to nine weeks, which will be a big help to young parents. I am increasing the domiciliary care allowance by €10 per month, meaning that over the past two budgets, I have increased it by more than €30. Completing our broad range of measures to tackle child poverty is the weekly increase of €4 for the qualified child payment. This means parents in receipt of a primary welfare payment will receive €46 per week for a child under 12 and €54 for a child aged 12 or over.

We are reducing the hourly threshold for employers availing of the wage subsidy scheme from 21 to 15 hours. This is based on feedback from disability organisations during our consultation. I am especially pleased to announce the first expansion of my Department's free travel scheme for many years. I am extending the free travel pass to anyone who is medically certified as unable to drive. This will be a big help to many people and I thank Epilepsy Ireland, which worked with me on advancing this proposal. I am also increasing the income disregard for the carer's allowance scheme to €450 for a single person and €900 for a couple. This is the second expansion of the carer's means test I have made in recent years and it will enable thousands more carers to qualify for the payment. In addition, I am setting up a working group at the Department of Health to examine the entire means-test system and how we can adequately support carers for the work they do.

The Government has decided the State pension age will remain at 66. To meet the additional cost of retaining the pension age at 66, it is important we begin to address the long-term sustainability challenges faced by our pension system with phased increases to PRSI. That is why we are increasing PRSI on an incremental basis over a number of years, starting at a 0.1% increase from 1 October 2024. Keeping the pension age at 66 is an important long-term benefit for workers, but the Government also wants to enhance the short-term benefits available for workers. For this reason and to coincide with the introduction of PRSI increases next year, we will introduce a new pay-related benefit system. This is an important reform to our social welfare system that will reduce the income shock experienced by people who lose their job. I will announce full details of these changes later this year as part of the social welfare Bill.

Budget 2024 was about supporting families and households who need it most, and I believe I have delivered a range of supports that achieve this objective. For example, a lone parent with two children will, between lump sums and targeted measures, benefit from an additional €2,448 from the measures I outlined. A pensioner couple will receive an additional €2,514 and a carer caring for one of their two children will receive an additional €2,580. As a Government, we are doing as much as we possibly can and I believe this is a fair and balanced budget package with a mix of targeted and universal measures, combined with a broad range of cost-of-living payments, all designed to protect the living standards of people across society.

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