Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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423. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who have lost the adult dependent allowance as a result of a fresh means test undertaken in the past 12 months; if she will consider increasing the savings disregard given that the present threshold of €20,000 has not been revised in a long time and does not go very far in meeting the contingencies of old age for which many people will wish to prepare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36133/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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With regards to providing the number of persons who have lost the increase for a qualified adult as a result of a fresh means test undertaken in the past twelve months, the Department's systems do not record the necessary data in the appropriate format in order to answer the query.  It should also be noted that, for social assistance schemes such as Jobseeker's Allowance or Disability Allowance, for example, a family rate of payment is applied dependent upon household composition.  If the family has means, this is deducted from the family rate of payment rather than the qualified adult payment being reduced or withdrawn.

The Department operates a range of means-tested social assistance payments.  Social welfare legislation provides that the means test takes account of the income and assets of the person (and spouse / partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme.  Income and assets include income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions, maintenance payments as well as property owned (other than the family home) and capital such as savings, shares and other investments. 

The assessment of capital reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of capital and property are in a position to use that capital or to realise the value of property to support themselves without having to rely solely on a means-tested welfare payment.

In this regard, for most social assistance schemes, the first €20,000 of capital is fully disregarded; the next €10,000 assessed at €1 per thousand, the next €10,000 is assessed at €2 per thousand, with the remainder assessed at €4 per thousand.

Disability Allowance and Carer’s Allowance have the highest capital disregard of all social assistance schemes; the first €50,000 of capital is fully disregarded; the next €10,000 assessed at €1 per thousand, the next €10,000 is assessed at €2 per thousand, with the remainder assessed at €4 per thousand.

Any proposals to change the capital means assessment for means-tested social assistance schemes would have to be considered in the overall budgetary context.