Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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305. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost to the Exchequer of restoring jobseeker’s allowance for persons aged under 26 years to the same rate as is currently paid to those aged 26 years or over. [27289/14]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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306. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost to the Exchequer of restoring the telephone allowance to senior citizens who would have been entitled to the allowance prior to 1 January 2014. [27290/14]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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307. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost to the Exchequer of increasing basic social protection rates including jobseeker’s allowance, jobseeker’s benefit, disability allowance, invalidity pension and carer’s allowance by €5 per week and €10 per week respectively. [27292/14]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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308. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost to the Exchequer of increasing the two rates of back to school clothing and footwear allowance by €50. [27293/14]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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309. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost to the Exchequer of restoring the payment of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance to children aged between 18 and 22 years of age who are in third level education. [27294/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 305 to 309, inclusive, together.

The cost of increasing the personal weekly rate of jobseeker’s allowance payable to certain persons aged under 26 years to the maximum personal weekly rate payable to those aged 26 years or over is estimated at €161 million in 2015. The cost includes an increase, where applicable, in the qualified adult rate to that applying to recipients aged 26 and over.

The cost of re-introducing a telephone allowance of €9.50 per month for pensioners aged 66 and over is estimated, based on recipient data at the end of 2013, at €35 million in a full year. Extending similar entitlement to cohorts aged under 66 who were previously eligible for the allowance such as invalidity pensioners, recipients of carer’s allowance and disability allowance would cost an additional €10 million in a full year.

The cost of increasing the rates back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) by €50, based on recipient data in 2013, is estimated at €16.2 million in a full year.

It was estimated in Budget 2014 that the abolition of payment of the BSCFA for children over the age of 18 years, other than those attending secondary school, would be €2.5 million in 2014 and subsequent years.

The cost of increasing the maximum personal weekly rate of welfare payments by €5 per week and €10 per week (with proportionate increases for qualified adults) for all recipients aged under 66 including jobseeker’s allowance, jobseeker’s benefit, disability allowance, invalidity pension and carer’s allowance is estimated at €219.5 million and €439 million, respectively, in a full year. This costing is independent of the earlier costing shown above in relation to certain jobseekers aged under 26. The additional cost of increasing the maximum personal weekly rates of payment for those aged 66 or over (with proportionate increases for qualified adults) by €5 and €10 is estimated at €136 million and €272 million, respectively, in a full year.