Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1008. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost in 2024 if the telephone support allowance were doubled. [37931/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Telephone Support Allowance (TSA) is a weekly payment of €2.50 for people on certain social welfare payments who are also getting both the Living Alone Increase and the Fuel Allowance. The primary objective of the TSA is to allow the most vulnerable people at risk of isolation, including the elderly and those with disabilities, access to personal alarms or phones for security. Approximately 150,000 customers are in receipt of the TSA payment, an increase of 10,000 in comparison with 2022 figures. The full year cost of the scheme in 2023 is estimated at €18.6 million.

It is assumed that there will be a further increase in individuals receiving TSA in 2023. Based on an assumed 155,000 recipients of the TSA in 2024, the estimated additional cost of increasing the weekly rate of TSA from €2.50 to €5 would be in the region of €20.2 million

All proposals, including any proposals to increase the Telephone Support Allowance could only be considered while taking account of overall Government policy and in a budgetary context.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1009. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost in 2024 if child benefit were increased by €10 per child per month for the first three children. [37932/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their eighteenth birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Estimated expenditure on the scheme will be approximately €2.1 billion in 2023.

The current Child Benefit structure maintains a consistent rate of €140 per child, with variations for cases of twins, triplets, and other multiple births. Implementing an increase for the initial three children would require significant adjustments to the Child Benefit system.

The estimated annual cost of a €10 weekly increase in Child Benefit per child for the first three children is €150 million. Any change to Child Benefit involves significant cost implications, and therefore would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.