Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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95. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason that persons who are in receipt of illness benefit for a period similar to the qualification period for qualifying for the double payment of welfare for recipients of supplementary allowance and jobseeker’s allowance benefit, were not entitled to the recently announced double payment of welfare payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55819/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Illness Benefit is intended for people with short duration illnesses who will return to work relatively quickly.  The average duration on the scheme is about 6 days. In many cases, the payment is made directly to the employer and the employer tops up the payment to ensure that the person receives the equivalent of their normal salary.

People with long duration illnesses are catered for under the Disability Allowance or Invalidity Pension schemes.  The double week payment was made to recipients on these schemes.

In response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, my Department will spend approximately €1.2 billion in social welfare measures during the coming months to help individuals and families through this difficult period. 

One of these measures is the Autumn Cost of Living Double Payment which was paid to those schemes which are eligible to receive the Christmas Bonus, with one amendment - the removal of the 12-month duration requirement for certain schemes - allowing short-term jobseekers and Supplementary Welfare Allowance customers to qualify for the October support.

Illness Benefit is not, and has never been, a qualifying payment for the Christmas Bonus. It is a scheme which, by its nature, is a short-term social welfare scheme.  It has a high degree of churn with people coming onto the scheme and moving off every week, often with very short duration claims.   

For example, between July and September 2022, almost 115,000 Illness Benefit claims were awarded and, of these, only 21,000 remain in payment.  This indicates a churn of 82% over just a three-month period.  The average duration of a claim for Illness Benefit is only 6 days.

In addition, many Illness Benefit payments are paid directly to the employer with, in some case, the employer continuing to pay the normal salary to the person concerned.

Therefore, a double payment such as the cost of living support would, in many cases, be an employer subsidy as opposed to an additional support to the customer.  This is not the intent behind the October cost of living support, and nor would it be a targeted use of resources.

Long term illness and disability schemes, such as Invalidity Pension and Disability Allowance qualify for both the Christmas Bonus and the Autumn Cost of Living Double Payment.

If an individual or family are struggling with additional costs, Additional Needs Payments can provide help and support to people facing financial hardship.  Under the scheme, the Department may make an Additional Needs Payment to people on a low income, whether they are working or receiving an income support, to meet essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.