Written answers
Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Departmental Policies
Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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433. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an overview of the key social protection improvements announced since 27 June 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62296/22]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Since 27 June 2020, my Department has made a number of changes to the Social Protection system.
In Budget 2021, while the country was still widely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, I secured a social protection package which included:
| 1. Qualified Child Increase (a) Increase the weekly rate of the Qualified Child Increase for children aged 12 and over by €5 per week, from €40 to €45 per week. (b) Increase the weekly rate of the Qualified Child Increase for children under the age of 12 by €2 per week, from €36 to €38 per week. |
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| 2. Parent’s Benefit Extend paid parental leave by 3 weeks for parents of children born/adopted since 1st November 2019 |
| 3. Working Family Payment Increase the Working Family Payment income threshold for families with up to 3 children by €10 |
| 4. One Parent Family Payment Earnings Limit Remove the €425 earnings threshold on One-Parent Family Payment |
| 5. Hot School Meals Programme Continue to review and expand the roll-out of the new Hot School Meals initiative |
| 6. Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant Increase the Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant by €2,000, from €6,000 to €8,000 |
| 7. State Pension Age State Pension Age will remain at 66 years, and the increase to 67 years will be deferred |
| 8. Living Alone Allowance Increase the Living Alone Allowance by €5 per week, from €14 to €19 per week |
| 9. Living on a Specified Island Increase the Island Allowance by €7.30, from €12.70 to €20 per week |
| 10. Disability Allowance Increase the earnings disregard by €20, from €120 to €140 per week |
| 11. Illness Benefit Reduce the number of waiting days for Illness Benefit from six days to three days |
| 12. Carer's Support Grant Increase the Carer’s Support Grant by €150, from €1,700 to €1,850 per year |
| 13. Enterprise Support Grant Extend the Covid-Enterprise Support Grant payments until end March 2021 |
| 14. Targeted Activation Measures Additional funding across activation schemes – particularly for the new work experience programme, training and support grant and JobsPlus |
| 15. Support Grant for Jobseekers with a Disability Provide for a €1,000 technical support grant for people who are referred to contracted employment support services, which can be accessed on a similar basis to the TSG (Intreo) and Mediator Fund (Local Employment Service) |
| 16. Self-Employed Activation Measures Provide that self-employed Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) recipients can engage in limited self-employment and earn up to €480 over a four-week period and continue to maintain entitlement to PUP |
| 17. Fuel Allowance Increase rate by €3.50, from €24.50 to €28.00 per week |
| 18. Treatment Benefit Change the conditions of the hearing aid benefit to provide a flat rate grant of up to €500 instead of it needing to be matched by the customer; and provide a flat rate grant of up to €100 towards repairs without it having to be matched |
In Budget 2022, I delivered a social protection package which included:
| 1. Pension Rate Increase Increase the maximum weekly rate of all pension payments (for those aged 66 and over) by €5 per week with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates of payment. |
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| 2. Living Alone Allowance Increase the Living Alone weekly payment by €3 to €22 |
| 3. Working Age Rate Increase Increase the weekly rates of payment for working age recipients (under 66 years of age) by €5 per week, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates. |
| 4. Treatment Benefit Grant A Treatment Benefit grant of up to €500 towards the cost of wigs/hairpieces/hair replacement systems for people suffering from hair loss due to illness. |
| 5. Reduced Contributions for Treatment Benefit Increase the age threshold at which the requirement to have at least 5 years paid PRSI contributions applies, from 25 to 29 years. |
| 6. Farm Assist Amend the list of agri-environmental schemes that attract a disregard under the Farm Assist Scheme. |
| 7. Qualified Child Increase Increase the weekly rate of the Qualified Child Increase by €2 per week for children under the age of 12 and increase the weekly rate of the Qualified Child Increase by €3 per week for children aged 12 and over. |
| 8. Parent’s Benefit Extend Parent’s Benefit from 5 weeks to 7 weeks for parents of children born or adopted after the implementation date |
| 9. Working Family Payment Threshold Increase Working Family Payment income thresholds for all families by €10 per week |
| 10. Hot School Meals Programme Extend the provision of hot school meals to the remaining DEIS primary schools that submitted an expression of interest to avail of hot school meals in 2020. |
| 11. Equalise Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Increase the income thresholds applied to lone parents for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to the threshold applied to two-parent households |
| 12. Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Increase Increase the rate of payment for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance by €10 |
| 13. Carer’s Allowance Disregards (i) Increase in the amount of capital disregarded in the Carer’s Allowance means test to €50,000; and (ii) increase the weekly income disregarded in the means test for Carer's Allowance to €350 for a single person and €750 for a couple |
| 14. Domiciliary Care Allowance Extend period during which Domiciliary Care Allowance can be paid for children in hospital from 3 months to 6 months (including payment of Carer's Allowance for this period) |
| 15. Disability Allowance and Blind Pension Disregards Increase the earnings threshold above which all means is fully assessed, from €350 to €375 for both Disability Allowance and Blind Pension |
| 16. Disability Allowance – General Disregards Increase the general weekly means disregard for Disability Allowance from €2.50 to €7.60 per week |
| 17. Employability Extend access to support grants for jobseekers with disabilities, through an EmployAbility provider. 1. Job Interview Interpreter Grant (JIIG) 2. Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant (WEAG) 3. Personal Reader Grant (PRG) |
| 18. Wage Subsidy Scheme Increase the rate of the Wage Subsidy by €1.00 to €6.30 per hour |
| 19.Blind Pension- Student Extend the income disregard for bursaries, stipends or scholarships towards completing a PhD to Blind Pension |
| 20. Fuel Package (a) Increase rate by €5, from €28 to €33 per week (b) Increase the income threshold for qualification by €20 (c) Allow recipients of Jobseekers Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance to access Fuel Allowance at 12 months - currently 15 months |
In the first half of 2022, in response to increases in inflation which affected the cost of living, Government provided a targeted package of increases which included two Fuel Allowance lump sums of €125 and €100 paid in March and May 2022 and a €100 increase in the rate of Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance paid in June 2022.
Most recently, in Budget 2023, I announced a Budget package of €2.2 billion, which is made up of both budgetary measures and once-off supports to tackle the rising cost of living. These included:
| 1. Cost of Living Support Pay a once-off double payment to social welfare recipients in October 2022 |
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| 2. Fuel Allowance Lump Sum Pay a lump sum of €400 to all Fuel Allowance recipients in 2022 |
| 3. Child Benefit Double Payment Pay a double payment of Child Benefit in 2022 |
| 4. Living Alone Allowance Lump Sum Pay a lump sum of €200 in 2022 to recipients of the Living Alone Increase |
| 5. Working Family Payment Lump Sum Pay a once-off cost of living payment of €500 to Working Family Payment recipients in 2022 |
| 6. Disability and Carer's Lump Sum Provide a once-off payment of €500 to recipients of Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension and the Carer’s Support Grant |
| 7. Weekly Personal and Qualified Adult Rates of Payment - Pensioners Increase the maximum weekly rate of all pension payments (for those aged 66 and over) by €12 per week with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates of payment. |
| 8. Fuel Allowance Means Test Extend Fuel Allowance to those who are aged over 70 and below the weekly means threshold of €500 for a single person and €1,000 for couple (Household rules still apply) |
| 9. Weekly Personal and Qualified Adult rates of payment - Working Age recipients Increase the weekly rates of payment for working age recipients (under 66 years of age) by €12 per week, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates. |
| 10. Employment Supports Increase the additional payment of €22.50 on Community Employment, Tús and the Rural Social Scheme by €5, and increase the current rate of Jobs Initiative by €10 |
| 11. Farm Assist Increase the disregard for income received from agri-environmental schemes from €2,540 to €5,000 |
| 12. JobsPlus Extend access to the JobsPlus scheme |
| 13. Qualified Child Increase Increase the weekly rates of the Increase for Qualified Children (IQCs) by €2 per week for children of all ages |
| 14. Working Family Payment Increase Working Family Payment income thresholds for all families by €40 per week |
| 15. Domiciliary Care Allowance Rate of Payment Increase rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance to €330 per month |
| 16. Domiciliary Care Allowance Eligibility Provide Domiciliary Care Allowance to parents of babies who remain in an acute hospital after birth for a period of 6 months |
| 17. Disability Allowance Increase the earnings disregard for Disability Allowance and Blind Pension from €140 to €165 per week. |
| 18. Reasonable Accommodation Amalgamate the four Reasonable Accommodation Fund grants into a single, flexible grant with increased funding |
| 19. Fuel Allowance (a) Increase the Fuel Allowance means threshold to €200 (b) Disregard Disablement Benefit in Fuel Allowance means test (c) Disregard Half-rate Carer's Allowance in Fuel Allowance means test |
| 20. Pilot Food Poverty Programme Develop and implement a pilot scheme, based on a case work model, to support people experiencing food poverty. |
My Department will continue to review policies and practices to improve service delivery to our customers.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
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