Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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209. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider changing the criteria regarding the living alone allowance (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42020/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to these primary payments, my Department also provides a range of other payments, both cash and non-cash, on a weekly, monthly, or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary in nature.

The Living Alone Increase (LAI) is one of those secondary payments. It is not a scheme or a stand-alone payment in itself, but rather it is a supplement to a primary social protection payment of €22 per week, for those who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone.

For those aged 66 or over, qualifying payments for the Living Alone Increase include State Pension (Contributory), State Pension (Non-contributory), Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, Widow's/Widower's Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme, Incapacity Supplement under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme and Deserted Wife's Benefit. This is in recognition of the fact that the Central Statistics Office “Statistics on Income and Living Conditions” (SILC) data indicates that those who are aged 65 years and over are more likely to be at risk of poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty if they live alone.

You will also qualify if you are under 66, live alone and are getting Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement or Blind Pension.

Consequently, an individual over 66 who is living alone and in receipt ofWidow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension, orWidow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension, will receive the living alone increase.

There are no circumstances where the Living Alone Increase can be paid to people who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment from my Department. Any decision to allow those who are not in receipt of a qualifying payment to receive the Living Alone Increase - and thereby establish it as a primary scheme - would have budgetary and administrative consequences and would have to be considered in the context of Budget negotiations.

Similarly, any decision to make theWidow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) or Pension, or the Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension, qualifying payments for the Living Alone Increase for those under 66 would need to be considered in a budgetary context.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Last week, I published a Green Paper on Disability Reform and launched the associated public consultation.

The Green Paper was developed as a response to commitments under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion,the Pathways to Work Strategy, andthe Make Work Pay Report Strategy to consult on reforms to disability payments and take account of anomalies within the current system.

I would like to emphasise that this Green Paper is not a final design and no changes will be made to the current payments at this time. The Green Paper is a proposal on what the future of long-term disability payments could look like. It doesn’t claim to be the best way or the only way to change the structure of our payments. The proposals in the Green Paper represent a starting point for a structured discussion. I launched a public consultation on 20 September that will last until 15 December 2023.

The main proposal of the Green Paper is to move to a three-tiered Personal Support Payment, rather than the one-size-fits-all payments we currently have. This would amalgamate the current system of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, and Blind Pension into one payment with a contributory and non-contributory stream.

Another important element of the Green Paper is that where people have a life-long disability, they would not be subject to ongoing medical reviews by the Department of Social Protection as is currently the case.

I want to assure the Deputy that the intention is to try and simplify and make the social welfare system work better for people with disabilities. There are no proposals to reduce anybody's payment. Rather the proposals in the green paper are about providing additional support to those who need it most.

I have already met with the various Disability Organisations to brief them on the Green Paper and I want to work with them to ensure we get a strong response to this public consultation.

I would like to encourage all those with an interest to express their views as part of the public consultation process.

Full details on how to make a submission as part of the public consultation are available at: www.gov.ie/en/consultation/3b001-green-paper-on-disability-reform-a-public-consultation-to-reform-disability-payments-in-ireland/

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.