Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The overall concern of Government in its Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. Expenditure on pensions at approx. €6.974 billion is the largest block of expenditure in the Department in the Estimate for 2016, representing approx. 35.5% of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes, the Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year. The Department had to make provision for an additional €84 million in 2016 for the increasing number of pensioners. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in protecting people from poverty.

The decision to discontinue the telephone allowance was estimated to provide annual savings of €48 million. These savings meant that the Department was able to retain the other valuable elements of the household benefits package such as the electricity and gas allowance and the television licence. The Department will spend approximately €227 million this year on these elements of the household benefits package for over 416,000 customers.

The cost of the telephone allowance scheme had risen each year with the number of eligible customers also increasing significantly. In 2007 there were some 316,000 people receiving the telephone allowance compared to almost 396,000 at the end of September 2013, an increase of 25%, or an average increase of nearly 4% per annum. Each year almost 10,000 extra customers became eligible for the allowance because of the increased number of pension recipients.

I am keenly aware of the impact of Budget decisions on the Department’s clients, and I have sought to ensure that the money available is targeted in the most effective way. In Budget 2016, I was able to announce the first increase in the basic rate of the State pension in seven years, by €3 per week. This will increase the personal rate of the non-contributory pension to €222, and that of the contributory pension to €233.30. I was also pleased to announce a €2.50 increase in the rate of the Fuel Allowance, from €20 to €22.50 per week. I believe that, taken together with other changes, such as increasing the Christmas Bonus to 75% of weekly rate, the impact of the last Budget has been very positive for older people.