Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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1475. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated yearly cost of restoring the fuel allowance to payment over 32 weeks rather than the current 26 weeks; her views on whether the allowance was of major benefit to low income households; her plans to restore the fuel allowance to 32 weeks per year in the forthcoming budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34913/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1521. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full year cost of increasing all basic social protection payments by €5, €7 and €10, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35790/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1522. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full year cost of increasing the living alone allowance by €2, €3 and €5, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35791/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1523. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full year cost of increasing the fuel allowance by €7 and €10, respectively, and extending it by a further six weeks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35792/17]

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1560. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount it would cost to restore the full Christmas bonus to all social welfare recipients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36396/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1475, 1521, 1522, 1523 and 1560 together.

The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to over 390,000 low income households. This payment assists these households with the higher energy costs that arise in that period. It is a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. Exceptional needs payments may also be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which a person is unable to meet from his/her own resources.

The full year cost of extending the duration of the fuel season by 6 weeks, from 26 weeks to 32 weeks, is estimated to be €52.8 million in 2018. The full year cost in 2018 of increasing the rate of fuel allowance by €7 and €10 is estimated to cost €71.2 million and €101.8 million, respectively.

The full year cost in 2018 of increasing all weekly social protection payments by €5, €7 and €10 per week is estimated to cost €347 million, €486 million and €694 million, respectively.

The full year cost in 2018 of increasing the living alone allowance by €2, €3 and €5 per week is estimated to cost €20.6 million, €31 million and €51.6 million, respectively.

Last December, an 85% Christmas Bonus was paid to some 1.2 million long-term social welfare recipients, including pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and the long-term unemployed, in recognition of their financial dependence on their social welfare payments for all or most of their income. The cost of a 100% Bonus for long-term recipients is estimated to cost approximately €267 million in 2017.

The costings listed above include proportionate increases for qualified adults and for those on reduced rates of payment, where relevant. It should also be noted that these costings are subject to change over the coming months in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2018.