Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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261. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there is an additional pre-Christmas payment being made to pensioners who suffer with an illness related to their chest and who have to take medication for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61505/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, I announced on Budget Day that my Department will spend approximately €1.2 billion on social welfare measures to help individuals and families through this difficult period. This included a range of double payments and lump sum payments that were targeted at those who are most vulnerable including older people, families, carers and those living with disabilities.

These measures include an Autumn Double Payment, which was paid in mid-October to over 1.4 million people, including pensioners.

In November, my Department paid a range of cost of living supports, which included:

- A €400 lump sum payment to all households in receipt of Fuel Allowance, many of whom are pensioners; and

- An additional €200 Lump Sum Payment to all persons in receipt of the Living Alone Allowance, the majority of whom are pensioners.

In December, the Christmas Bonus Double Payment will be paid to all Pensioners, Carers, Persons with Disabilities, One Parent Family Payment and other Social Protection recipients.

As we turn to 2023, I announced a €12 euro increase in weekly rates of payment for pensioners and people of working age to take effect from January 2023. This measure alone will cost almost €900 million euro. It is the largest Budget increase in weekly payments since the mid-2000s and was announced as part of the largest Social Protection Budget package in the history of the State.

I was very aware, when addressing my Budget priorities for 2023, that many older people fall just outside the qualifying criteria for Fuel Allowance and that this payment does not reach everybody. So, in Budget 2023, we focused on expanding the scheme to reach more households.

One of the reforms to the Fuel Allowance Scheme is that, 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. Under the formula used to assess means for the Fuel Allowance for over 70s, the threshold for capital that is disregarded in the assessment will increase from €20,000 to €50,000. This is a significant expansion of the means threshold for those aged 70 or over.

As part of this measure, those aged over 70 no longer have to be in receipt of a qualifying Social Welfare payment to access the Fuel Allowance payment. However, to qualify for the Fuel Allowance, they will still have to satisfy all other relevant qualifying criteria.

This reform seeks to ensure that older people not currently in receipt of Fuel Allowance, but who are marginally outside the thresholds, will now be covered by the scheme. This reform is being made as older people can often be more vulnerable to the effects of energy poverty.

Other measures announced by Government in Budget 2023 - such as three energy credits worth €600 in total - will also assist pensioners.

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.