Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government Our Shared Futurecommits to establishing a Commission on Care to examine care and supports for older people. This commitment comes under the remit of the Department of Health and is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Health.

In terms of my Department’s social welfare supports to older people, a number of measures targeted at older people were announced in Budget 2023 including:

- Core welfare rates, including State Pension payments and Working Age Payments, will increase by €12 from January 2023.

- A major expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme with up to 81,000 new households to benefit from the scheme. The reforms include:

- From January 2023, a new means threshold will be introduced for people aged 70 years and over. The new means threshold will be €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple.

- From January 2023, the weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 will be increased by €80 from €120 to €200 above the appropriate rate of State Pension (Contributory).

- From January 2023, the Disablement Benefit payment will be disregarded when assessing means for Fuel Allowance purposes.

- From January 2023, the Half-Rate Carer’s Allowance payment will be disregarded when assessing means for Fuel Allowance purposes.

In addition to these measures, as part of the Government’s Budget 2023 cost of living supports, an Autumn Cost of Living Double Payment was paid to Social Protection recipients in October. By the end of November, a €200 Lump Sum Payment will have been paid to pensioners and people with a disability receiving the Living Alone Allowance and a €400 Lump Sum payment will have been made to older people in receipt of the Fuel Allowance.

In December, a Christmas Bonus Double Payment will be paid to 1.3 million Social Protection recipients, including pensioners.

I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.