Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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216. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to ease the rules relating to the living alone and supplementary allowances to allow persons experiencing housing issues and homelessness to reside at the home of a relative without affecting the income of that relative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2359/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The living alone allowance (LAA) is an increase of €9.00 per week made to people who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments, including State pensions, who are living alone. It is also available to people who are under 66 years of age who are living alone and are in receipt of long-term illness and disability payments. The payment of the living alone allowance is considered secondary, or non-primary, in nature which is incorporated into the person’s qualifying payment. The effect of the allowance is to increase the rate of payment to such people, recognizing that there are economies of scale associated with living with another person.

Significant costs would arise if the criteria were relaxed in the manner suggested by the Deputy, particularly as many existing domestic arrangements could fall within the definition of the living alone allowance criteria, as many adult children of older people live with them, and might become homeless if they had to leave the family home. There would also, clearly, be significant administrative challenges in determining whether such co-residents of pensioners would in fact become homeless if they could not reside in their current address.

In addition to the living alone allowance my Department makes a range of other payments, both cash and non-cash on a weekly, monthly or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary, or non-primary, in nature. In addition to the living alone increase a person may also be eligible for household benefits (worth €580 per year), fuel allowance (worth €607 per year) or supports under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme such as rent supplement. These secondary payments are in some cases are subject to a means or household composition test, which are valuable supports for recipients.

The adult child of a householder moving back into the family home might reduce such additional allowances previously held by the householder. However, the economies of scale from living together should mean that a weekly contribution by the person moving in would more than compensate for any such reduction in payments from my Department which are, as I said, to compensate for the greater costs associated with living alone.

The criteria for the Department’s supplementary schemes are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. The guidelines for supplementary schemes are kept under review. However, any decision to change the requirement for these schemes would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.