Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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456. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she received correspondence from the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in relation to concerns raised by a campaign (details supplied); if she has responded on the matter; if so, the date on which she responded; and what the content of her response was. [25759/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the issues being raised by the Disabled Artists Disabled Academics group, and officials from my department have met with the group directly.

It is acknowledged that income for artists may be irregular and comprise income in the form of once-off payments such as grants and bursaries. Therefore, if an artist in receipt of Disability Allowance receives such income for a piece of work, that income is divided by the number of weeks allocated for the work and then assessed, taking into account the income disregards that apply.

In addition, self-employed income is taken to be the gross profit, less allowable work-related expenses, but not drawings. Where the person has taken drawings from the business which are greater than the level of income thus calculated, the drawings are assessed as cash income. All expenses directly related to self-employment of the artist can be offset against income.

I introduced a number of measures as part of Budget 2023 to support people to mitigate the impacts of the rising cost of living:

- Cost of living double payment paid in October 2022,

- €500 cost of living disability support grant paid in November 2022

- €200 cost of living payment for people who receive the Living Alone Increase,

- €400 lump sum Fuel Allowance payment,

- Christmas Bonus double payment to all persons getting a long-term disability payment,

- €200 cost of living payment in April 2023.

Also, as part of Budget 2023, I introduced the following increases to weekly payments and income thresholds, which took effect in January 2023:

- An increase of €12 in the maximum rate of weekly disability payments, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and for people getting a reduced rate.

- Disablement Benefit is now disregarded in the means assessment for Fuel Allowance.

- A €1 million expansion of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund.

- The earnings disregard for Disability Allowance and Blind Pension increased from €140 to €165.

- The means assessment threshold for Fuel Allowance increased from €120 to €200.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.