Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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455. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost, number of recipients and number of applicants of the island allowance in each of the years 2010 to 2020, by offshore island. [29354/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Data requested by the Deputy on the costs and recipients, where available, is set out in Table 1 below. The islands which are enumerated under each county are set out in Table 2.  The increase was paid at a rate of €12.70 per week for the period 2012-2020 inclusive, which has been used to approximate the expenditure. The increase is attached to the claim of the main social welfare payment, and as such it is not possible to report on applications for the Island Increase.  

Table 1: Cost and Recipients: 2012 to 2020

Table 2: Specified Islands & County

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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456. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the expected increase in total annual cost of the island allowance resulting from the increase to €20 announced in Budget 2021; and if she will provide a copy of any documented analysis conducted by her Department before making the decision to increase the allowance. [29355/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Increase for Living on a Specified Island - or Island Allowance - is an increase in the weekly rate of certain social welfare payments for recipients who are aged 66 or over and are ordinarily resident on an island off the coast of Ireland. It is also paid to recipients aged under 66 on certain schemes. 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.

As part of the Budget 2021 package, the allowance was increased by €7.30, from €12.70 to €20 per week. This was the first increase to the allowance since the payment was introduced in 2000 and was the basis on which the decision to increase the allowance was made. As Minister with responsibility for the islands, I was acutely aware of the additional costs associated with living offshore.

Based on the current number of recipients, it is estimated that the increase will cost €0.23 million this year.