Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he has given consideration to an emergency cost-of-living payment to vulnerable households at risk of poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31203/26]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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As the Government seems to be blissfully unaware, there is a cost-of-living crisis. We know this from the numbers of people in energy arrears. We also know this from the figures from Barnardos and other agencies. This is backed up by the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, data. My question is simple. In light of the announcement of a surplus last week, has the Minister given any consideration to a cost-of-living payment for those vulnerable households at risk of poverty?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We are all greatly disturbed by recent geopolitical developments, including the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Wars are destroying lives across the world and in communities and will deepen and entrench rather than resolve any situation. As a nation, we feel the impact of these conflicts in the upward pressure on fuel costs, in particular. We should always remember those who are suffering in other ways.

In response to the spike in fuel prices, the Government has acted more decisively than many other Governments. We have made an investment of over €750 million, which will bring down fuel prices and provide targeted support to households on low incomes in receipt of the fuel allowance payment. More generally, the Government increased core welfare rights above the rate of inflation in budget 2026. In 2026, my Department will spend €28.9 billion on schemes and services, which includes €1.15 billion in new measures, comprising an above-inflation increase of €10 per week in core rates and a range of targeted supports, including €320 million in measures that are alleviating child poverty. This also includes the largest ever increase in the child support payment.

The budget also provided significant support to help households with the cost of heating and other energy bills. The fuel allowance has increased by €5 per week, or 15%. For the first time, families in receipt of the working family payment qualify for the fuel allowance. The Government has also extended the period of time during which the fuel allowance is paid by four weeks to the end of this week. Combined, the changes in fuel allowance equate to a year-on-year increase of nearly 32%. The fuel allowance is paid to just under 469,000 households across the country.

Taken together, the increase in core rates, the child support payment and the fuel allowance mean that, for example, a lone parent family with one child will see an increase of over 9%, or nearly €1,800, in payments from the Department, while a household comprising two adults will see an increase of over 8% percent or €2,300 in their payments. Those increases are significantly ahead of inflation and we will continue to monitor the situation and cost-of-living pressures, including those arising from any developments. I will continue to revert to the House on that.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister will know that, before the war in Iran, 330,000 households were already in arrears with their bills. The average household arrears are €470. The Minister is playing ducks and drakes with percentages and references to millions of euro. The figure for the average arrears for household energy bills is €470 and the extension to the fuel allowance is worth €136. The Minister can see how those figures do not add up. The Taoiseach referred to October and January, but if people are struggling now, what is the Minister prepared to do for those households that are at risk of or are in poverty? They cannot pay their bills today and cannot wait until the budget in October and the measures to be introduced in January. That is far too long for people to wait.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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We have acted. I again emphasise the increase in the fuel allowance and the extra four weeks of the payment bringing it to the end of this week, which is the beginning of the month of May. That has not been done previously. We increased the fuel allowance by €5 per week. As I said, the increase in the fuel allowance is a 32% increase for the 469,000 households that are in receipt of it. For the first time, the fuel allowance is now being paid to working families. Those in receipt of the working family payment were eligible for the fuel allowance. We made a back payment to the beginning of January so that those in receipt of the working family payment received a lump sum for January and February at the beginning of March and now have the benefit of the extension.

That is a very targeted intervention to those 469,000 households in receipt of the fuel allowance. We continue to pay the household benefits package. Over 500,000 households are in receipt of that. That is a direct payment that people can use in relation to fuel and energy supports. We have just finished a run of engagements across the country with Members of the House around availability of additional needs payments. That may be something we can come back to.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I am a constituency TD, as is the Minister. I listen to my constituents and I have talked to people in my own party. From our read of it, there is a need for an intervention from the Government. We have proposed €400 in energy credits, a cut to the USC, which would be worth €500, €400 in emergency welfare payments and a €500 cost-of-disability payment, as well as an additional eight weeks on the fuel allowance because that is what people need.

Last February, I was ten years in the Dáil. The Minister has been here longer. I have never experienced the level of poverty that I see in my constituency offices in Balbriggan and Rush. I have never seen anything like it. My constituency manager would say the same thing. People are desperate and being put to the pin of their collar. We are not making this up in the Opposition. This is coming to us. The Minister saw people on the streets, not just in tractors, but in wheelchairs, telling the Government very clearly that they were making choices between heating, eating and charging their mobility devices. The time for intervention is now.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge that pressure. We see that as well - we are not immune from that - but we also have to be honest with people about our ability to make interventions. We cannot make interventions every few months. There will be an intervention in the context of the forthcoming budget. We have made a €750 million intervention since March in two packages, which has reduced the day-to-day cost of fuel for people and has brought in a targeted extension of the fuel allowance payment, giving people access to the fuel allowance to the beginning of May. This was not previously available to those 469,000 households. Some 500,000 households are benefiting from the households benefits package, which will be paid all year around, including the summer.

We will continue to review all of the pressures people are under. We get it, but we also have to be honest. We cannot support all of those pressures, and we have to do this in a manner that is feasible and allows us to respond when the winter comes when energy prices and energy pressures will possibly be worse.