Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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280. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she intends changing the means testing rules in relation to assessing the increase for a dependent adult of a contributory State pensioner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49315/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Recipients of the State Pension (Contributory) can claim an increase in their pension in respect of a Qualified Adult, subject to a means assessment. A Qualified Adult is the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the pensioner who is being wholly or mainly maintained by that pensioner.

The means assessment reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of income or capital are in a position to use these resources to support themselves, so that expenditure can be directed towards those who need it most.

Entitlement to the State Pension (Contributory) is based on a person's social insurance record and the personal rate of payment is not subject to a means test. Only the spouse or partner of the claimant is means tested.

An increase is payable at the maximum rate of payment where the means of the spouse or partner are €100 a week or less, while reduced rates are payable where the means are over €100 and less than €310 per week. No increase is payable where the means of the spouse or partner are in excess of €310 per week.

The means assessed include income from employment or self-employment, non-social welfare pensions, and the capital value of savings, investments and property other than the family home. It should be noted that the value of the family home, regardless of who is the legal owner, is never taken into account in this assessment.

When calculating the weekly means from savings or other capital, an assessment formula is used. 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.

Where savings, property or other assets are held jointly, the spouse or partner's means is taken to be halfof the total amount. The means testing arrangements are based on the actual means of the spouse or partner at any given time and allow pensioner couples to jointly hold significant amounts of savings or capital and retain their entitlement to an Increase for a Qualified Adult.

Currently a couple can jointly hold savings of up to €115,000 and still retain their entitlement to a full rate Increase for a Qualified Adult, while tapered rates continue to be payable to couples with up to €220,000 of savings or capital. This excludes the property in which they live.

The rate for a Qualified Adults (aged over 66) on the State Pension (Contributory) will be €237.80 per week in 2023, which is almost 90% of the full personal rate.

Any proposals to change the means assessment formula for an Increase for a Qualified Adult on the State Pension (Contributory) would have to be considered in an overall budgetary and policy context.