Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1173. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost of reinstating a concurrent payment of half-rate illness benefit and jobseeker’s benefit in addition to one parent family payment and widow’s and widower’s pensions. [41245/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Until 2012, recipients of a Widow's or Widower's Pension or a One-Parent Family Payment who met all the qualifying conditions for Jobseeker's Benefit or Illness Benefit, were entitled to concurrently claim half payment of their Jobseeker's or Illness Benefit entitlement.

The abolition, in Budget 2012, of the concurrent payment of half-rate Illness Benefit and Jobseeker's Benefit, with One-Parent Family Payment and Widow's and Widower's Pensions, gave rise to savings of €22.6 million in a full year.

I am advised that the Department is not immediately in a position to determine how much it would cost to reintroduce this, as it is not possible, in the time available, to determine how many lone parents, jobseekers, widows, widowers or surviving civil partners recipients would also qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit or Illness Benefit and, as such, would be entitled to concurrent half-rate payments.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1174. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost to increase child benefit in respect of children over 12 years of age by €30. [41246/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child benefit is currently paid to over 633,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of more than €2 billion in 2019.

The cost of increasing child benefit for children aged over 12 as proposed by the Deputy is estimated to be €10.2 million per month or €123.2 million per year.

Any proposal for changes to the rate of payment for child benefit would have to be considered in the overall budgetary context.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1175. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of reversing cuts to the back to education allowance. [41247/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue education and to continue to receive their weekly income support for the duration of a course of study. The main focus of the BTEA is to assist qualifying applicants to improve their educational qualifications and improve their prospects of gaining employment.

There has been are approximately 6,400 students supported through the BTEA for the 2020/2021 academic year. Government has provided €96.5 million for BTEA in 2021. This represents a considerable investment in supporting all unemployed individuals.

The BTEA is not intended to provide funding for student fees. The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant, payable by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, represents the primary support for people pursuing third level education and its administration is a matter for that Department

The appropriate rate of payment for all social welfare schemes, including the BTEA scheme, is considered by Government in the context of the Budget and the availability of resources. The weekly rate of payment is linked to the persons' underlying payment, for example jobseeker's allowance, and all budget increases in these rates are applied to Back to Education Allowance recipients. Any rate changes would have to be considered in a budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.

This Government has not introduced any cuts to the BTEA scheme. In fact, under the July Job Stimulus, the scheme was expanded to allow recipients of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to become eligible. Furthermore, under the recently-announced Pathways to Work Strategy 2021-2025, the number of available places under the scheme has been increased to 7,700.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1176. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost to increase social welfare payments to 2009 levels. [41248/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The estimated full year cost of increasing standard weekly social welfare payments (excluding temporary payments such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment) to 2009 levels is €157.7 million.

This costing is based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2021 and is subject to change in light of emerging trends and subsequent revision of the estimated number of recipients.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1177. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost of measures (details supplied). [41249/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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1. The estimated cost of increasing the Fuel Allowance by two weeks, from 28 to 30 weeks is €21 million in a full year.

2. As the current weekly rates of payment are in excess of 2008 levels, no additional costs would arise.

3. No decision has been made in relation to paying the Christmas Bonus in 2021 and costings are not available at this time. Any costing would be dependent on the eligibility criteria and the anticipated number of recipients on the relevant schemes on the date that the Bonus is paid.

In 2020, a 100% Christmas Bonus was paid and the eligibility criteria was extended, on an exceptional one-off basis, to include all PUP recipients and equivalent recipients of jobseekers payments, who had been in receipt of those payments for four months or more. The cost in 2020 was €388 million and based on this, a 110% Bonus would cost €427 million.

4. The cost of increasing the Working Family Payment multiplier from 60% to 75% is estimated to be in the region of €83.6 million in a full year.

5. Child benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday when they are in full-time education, or if they have a disability. Last year, it was estimated that the full year cost of extending the child benefit payment to 18 year olds in secondary level education would be an €58.3 million. An updated costing is not currently available.

6. The Department is not in a position to provide the cost of increasing the age of the youngest child to 18 years for receipt of One Parent Family Payment (OPF), without extensive analysis of the lone parent population which could potentially benefit from this provision. Firstly, this change could result in a cohort of lone parents that are currently not in receipt of a social welfare payment becoming eligible for a payment. Secondly, some customers could seek to move from alternative payments such as Jobseekers Allowance (JA), the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) and the Back to Work Family Dividend (BTWFD) back to the OFP. Again, it would be difficult to estimate the magnitude of this flow between schemes. Finally, such a change to the scheme would also increase the incidence of dual payments of OFP and the Working Family Payment (formerly FIS). It is not possible to predict the impact on payments as a result of the interaction between both schemes without having detailed knowledge of individuals’ working patterns and the degree to which these might change.

7. Based on 2020 recipient numbers, the annual cost of increasing the Back to School Clothing and Footwear rates by €50 per child, from €150 to €200 in respect of children aged 4 to 11 and from €275 to €325 for children aged 12 years and over in second level education, is estimated to be €13.2 million.

8. Based on current payment rates,increasing the number of weeks for which maternity benefit is payablefrom 26 weeks to 52 weeks would cost approximately €257 million in a full year. It should also be noted that there would be additional costs to the Exchequer as this estimate does not include the costs for substitution or salary top-ups in the civil or public sectors (which is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform).

9. The estimated full year cost of increasing Jobseekers Allowance for recipients aged 18 to 24 from €112.70 per week to €203 per week is €64.8 million. This includes an increase for qualified adults and those on an age reduced rate of Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

This costing is based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2021, and is subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1178. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost of restoring the respite grant to its highest historical level. [41250/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Carer’s Support Grant (formerly called the Respite Care Grant) is an annual payment for carers who look after people in need of full-time care and attention.

The grant is paid in a single annual lump sum, usually on the first Thursday in June. The grant is not means-tested and is not taxable. It is paid in respect of each care recipient.

The Carer's Support Grant is currently paid at a rate of €1,850 per year, which is the highest rate at which it has been paid since it was first introduced in 1999.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1181. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost of increasing all social welfare payments to €300 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41253/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The estimated full year cost of increasing all social welfare payments to €300 per week, with a proportionate increase for qualified adults, is €5.9 billion. This cost refers to increasing the standard weekly social welfare rates of payment and does not include increases, where applicable, for temporary payments such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

This costing is based on the estimated number of recipients in 2021 and is subject to change in light of emerging trends, and subsequent revision, of the estimated number of recipients.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1182. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost of granting a €1,000 bonus to all recipients of the carer's allowance. [41254/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The estimated full year cost of granting a €1,000 bonus to all recipients of Carer's Allowance is €91.6 million.

This costing is based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2021 and is subject to change in light of emerging trends and subsequent revision of the estimated number of recipients.