Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

My mother is 80 years old and I know exactly how she likes things to be kept in boxes. I looked at the fuel and living alone allowances. I cannot do everything in a first budget but I will keep things under review. With hundreds of millions of euro allocated to child benefit and increases in pensions and unemployment assistance rates it became a choice whether to put the extra funding into the basic rates or these allowances. The more choice we can give to the elderly, notwithstanding the point made by Senator Terry, the better it is. I shall try to devote future funding to increasing the basic rate so that additional funds will be delivered every week which the elderly can then spend as they choose. I will, however, keep the situation under review.

At present, there are 270,000 recipients of fuel allowances, of whom 118,400 receive the additional smokeless fuel allowance. That costs €84 million. There is also support for home improvements, such as installing insulation, from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities.

Currently, 140,000 receive a living alone allowance every week, costing €55 million annually. That has not been changed for some years and we should examine if that is the right way to approach the situation. I have no plans to do anything other than leave the allowance in place and increase it if I can but I wonder about a society that pays people to live alone. It sends out a signal that if a person chooses not to live alone, he or she will lose a particularly important allowance.

In many parts of the social welfare system, one can lose important benefits if one chooses to do something that is totally natural, such as going to work, living with the father of one's child or allowing a companion to live in one's house. I do not want to put social pressure on those who receive a particular allowance to comply with rules and regulations which are not natural, sensible or reasonable. Perhaps we should examine the living alone allowance to see whether we can improve the message we are sending to elderly people, for example. Many people who have to live alone do not want to lose the allowance. In light of that debate, which has continued for a while, I decided to invest the money in the rate, so that people can deal with it themselves. Having said that, I should stress that I decided, when I was allocated this portfolio, to keep an open mind and to listen to what is said. I am determined to channel the substantial funds at my disposal to those who need them most. If that means that I have to change rules or make U-turns, so be it, provided that we channel the funds to where they are needed.