Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I endorse the Deputy's comments, particularly regarding rural poverty. I will keep a laser-like focus on it during my time in the Department. I commend the work done by organisations such as Local Link, which is expanding its footprint to address the exact kind of loneliness the Deputy has just referred to.

The living alone allowance, or the living alone increase as it is formerly known, is available to those who are in receipt of the qualifying payments. It is a living alone allowance, not a scheme or stand-alone payment. It is a supplement to a primary social protection payment of €22 per week made to people aged 66 or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. For the record of the House, the eligible payments are the State pension, the widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension, the widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension under the occupational injuries benefits scheme, the incapacity supplement and the deserted wives benefit. The living alone increase is also paid to people aged under 66 who live alone and are in receipt of the disability allowance, invalidity pension, incapacity supplement or blind pension.

There are no circumstances where the living alone allowance can be paid to people who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment from my Department or who do not meet the living alone eligibility criteria. That is on the basis and data we have available from a number of resources, including the CSO and the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, which shows the cost of living for a single person is slightly more than the individualised costs of two people living together.

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