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

Regarding these lump sum payments, when people have ESB and heating bills in the winter, people need the money in their pockets then. There is no point in increasing the weekly rate. We need to get the money to them then to pay the bills. It has actually been shown that these once-off, or lump sum, payments have been very effective in dealing with the increase in the cost of living that was experienced. The 2023 SILC showed that social transfers continued to perform well in reducing the at-risk of poverty rate from 34.1% before social transfers to 10.6% after social transfers. This equated to a poverty reduction effect of 68.9% in 2023.

What I am trying to say to the Deputy is that the figure is coming down and we will continue to work hard to bring it down further. This is something I have committed to doing in every single budget. Since I have come into this Department, I have increased the payments in every way that I have been able to so that people have been cushioned against the cost-of-living increases.

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