Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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149. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures she would consider putting in place to assist those older people with disabilities who are ageing, in addition to having a disability, who are already living in, or in imminent danger of, falling into poverty due to the cost-of-living crisis, compounded with the additional costs that having a disability incur. [43100/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Indecon Cost of Disability report highlighted that there is not a single typical ‘cost of disability’; rather there is a spectrum from low additional costs to extremely high extra costs of disability, depending on the individual circumstances of the person concerned. It also highlighted that the cost of disability is significantly broader than the income support system and includes housing, equipment, transport, medicines and care. The report therefore suggested that the issue needs a whole-of-government response.

On 20th September I published a Green Paper on Disability Reform and launched the associated public consultation. The Green Paper on Disability Reform was developed as a response to commitments under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, the Pathways to Work Strategy and the Make Work Pay Report and taking account of the Cost of Disability Report.

In response to the cost of living challenges the Government provided the following supports for older persons:

October 2022

• Autumn Cost of Living Double Payment will be paid to Social Protection recipients including all Pensioners, Carer's and people on Disability Payments

• €400 Lump Sum Fuel Allowance Payment to all households receiving the Fuel Allowance
• €200 Lump Sum Payment for pensioners and people with a disability receiving the Living Alone Allowance

• Christmas Bonus Double Payment will be paid to Social Protection recipients including Pensioners, Carer’s & People with Disabilities

• €12 increase in the maximum weekly rate of all State Pensions and proportionate increases for qualified adults and for people receiving a reduced rate
• New Means Test disregard for Fuel Allowance for people aged over 70 - €500 (single person) and €1,000 (couple)
• Normal means assessment threshold for Fuel Allowance increases from €120 to €200 with effect from January 2023

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Diet supplement, administered under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, is payable to qualifying persons, in receipt of the supplement prior to February 2014, who have been prescribed a special diet because of a specified medical condition.  There are currently 1,131 people in receipt of diet supplement.

A review of the costs of healthy eating and specialised diets by the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute was commissioned by the Department during 2013.  The research showed that the average costs across all the retail outlets of the diets supplemented under the scheme could be met from within one-third of the minimum personal rate of social welfare payment, i.e. the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) rate, which was then paid at €186 per week (and is currently paid at €206 per week).  The diet supplement scheme was discontinued for new applicants from 1 February 2014 based on this evidence.

Recipients continue to receive the diet supplement at their existing rate of payment for as long as they continue to have an entitlement to the scheme or until their circumstances change.  This ensured that nobody was immediately worse off by the closure of the scheme.

The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents.  Supports provided under the scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single Additional Needs Payments (ANPs). 

Under the SWA scheme, a supplement can be awarded to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the client’s own resources and are deemed to be necessary.  In addition, officers can make a single ANP to help meet essential, once-off expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.  Decisions on ANPs and SWA supplements are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.

Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to financial support should contact their local Community Welfare Service for assistance.  There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818 607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.