Written answers

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

Department of Social Protection

Household Benefits Scheme

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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308. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will review the household benefits scheme in view of changing economic circumstances where adults, returning to live with their elderly parents because of economic difficulties, are preventing householders from getting this support. [48998/13]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The household benefits package currently comprises the electricity or gas allowances, the telephone allowance and the free television licence. Following the recent Budget announcements, the telephone allowance will end from 1st January, 2014. The package is generally available to people living in the State who are over age 70, carers who live with the person for whom they care and those under age 70 who are in receipt of certain qualifying social welfare payments and who live alone or only with certain excepted people. “Excepted people” include, inter alia, dependent children, carers or people in need of full time care and attention. The requirement to live alone or with only “excepted people” does not apply when a person is over 70.

The package is currently paid to over 415,000 customers and will cost an estimated €284 million in 2013.

The objective of the scheme is to provide additional support for those who are elderly or live alone. Where a member of the household is working or where a number of people in a household are receiving social welfare payments, additional supports through the household benefits scheme are not necessary. I would not regard this as an anomaly but as a targeting of a scheme to particularly vulnerable groups. I have no plans to amend the qualifying conditions for this scheme.

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