Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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656. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost if the island allowance of €12.70 per week was increased to €15.50 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11731/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The increase for living on a specified island (Island Increase) is an increase to certain weekly payments from this Department to people who are ordinarily resident on an island off the coast of Ireland. The objective of the scheme is to compensate for the additional costs of living on these specified islands when compared to people resident on the mainland.

The full year cost of raising the Island Increase by €2.80, from €12.70 per week to €15.50 per week, would be approximately €81,000.