Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has considered increasing social welfare rates given the recent Central Statistics Office report highlighting the potential increases to those at-risk of poverty in 2021 without Covid-19 emergency payments. [24589/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has plans to address the concerns regarding the effectiveness of the social welfare supports that are available to families and households in response to a survey (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24654/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 126 together.

I welcome the recent publication of the 2021 SILC data, which shows improvements across the key national poverty indicators, including child poverty. The data shows that household incomes across all income deciles have increased and also that income inequality has decreased.

Throughout the last number of years, social transfers have performed strongly in reducing the at-risk-of-poverty rate. This is once again confirmed by the 2021 SILC, which shows that social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate from 38.6% to 11.6%, or 27 percentage points in absolute terms. This represents a 70% reduction on the at-risk-of-poverty rate in 2021. Ireland is consistently one of the best performing EU countries in reducing poverty through social transfers.

As the Deputy will be aware, income and living conditions were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic over the reference period covered by the survey. I am pleased that the results show the poverty reduction impacts of the COVID-19 income supports provided by Government.

As part of the normal budgetary cycle, my Department is guided by evidence-led research produced by organisations such as the CSO, the ERSI and the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.

Over the last two Budgets, my Department has sought to protect the most vulnerable through a mixture of increases in general social welfare payments as well as through targeted increases to secondary payments such as Fuel Allowance, Living Alone Allowance and Qualified Child payments.

As a result of these measures, many of the most vulnerable social welfare recipients have seen significant increases in their weekly payment.

For example, over the last two years, a lone parent with two children under 12 years has seen their income increase by €21.50 per week during the fuel season. They will also benefit from the €10 increase in the Back to School, Clothing and Footwear Allowance. A single pensioner living alone has also seen an increase of €21.50 per week during the fuel season.

In addition to these Budget measures, the Government has acted quickly and decisively to introduce further targeted measures aimed at offsetting the increased cost of living for social welfare recipients.

In March, a once-off lump sum of €125 was paid to all households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance payment, at a cost of approximately €49 million. A further lump sum payment of €100 is also being paid to these households – costing €37 million.

The increase of €10 to the weekly income threshold of the Working Family Payment was brought forward, taking effect from early April 2022 rather than from June.

My Department will continue to monitor key economic indicators and take account of research data including that of the Survey on Income and Living Conditions to ensure that the social welfare system continues to perform well in addressing poverty and disadvantage.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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96. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way that she plans to address the cost of disability within social welfare supports considering her Department’s report from December 2021 found there is a significant additional cost for people with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24493/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Indecon report highlighted that the ‘Cost of Disability’ is significantly wider than the income support system and found that there is not a single typical ‘cost of disability’; rather there is a spectrum from low additional costs to extremely high extra costs of disability, depending on the individual circumstances of the person concerned.

Additional costs of disability identified run across a number of areas of expenditure including: housing, equipment, aids and appliances, mobility, transport and communications, medicines, care and assistance services and additional living expenses.

As the findings of the research have implications for many areas of public policy, a whole-of-Government perspective is needed.

As such the Government has referred the report on the Cost of Disability to the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, chaired by the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability. All Departments have been asked to consider actions that are currently being implemented and any proposed new actions that they will be undertaking in the context of the findings of the Report.

From the perspective of my Department, it is worth noting that a number of measures were introduced as part of Budget 2022 in relation to people with disabilities and their carers, which will go some way towards alleviating the financial costs experienced. These include a combination of core weekly payment rate increases, increases in earnings disregards as well as supports to employers.

Under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion (2020-2025) and Pathways to Work (2021-2025) strategies, my Department has committed to developing and consulting on a ‘strawman’ proposal for the restructuring of long-term disability payments to simplify the system and take account of the concerns expressed in the Make Work Pay Report. This will also include a review of the current long-term disability payment schemes with a view to removing inconsistencies/anomalies and ensuring that they recognise the continuum of disabilities and support employment. This work is currently underway within my Department, with a public consultation process to commence in due course.

Finally, one of the key conclusions contained in the report referenced the significant challenges faced in accessing employment and recommends that a high priority should be given to facilitating an increase in employment opportunities for people with disabilities. I am committed to improving targeted employment supports where people are facing additional challenges accessing work. In this context my Department is currently carrying out a review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund, and a planned review of the Wage Subsidy Scheme will also take place in 2022.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.