Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Living Alone Increase is an extra payment for recipients of certain social welfare payments who live alone. It is an increase of €22 per week. The Household Benefits Package comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence.

Both these payments are widely available to those aged over 66 and who satisfy certain qualifying or age criteria. The payments are more focused to those in receipt of disability type payment under 66 years of age, such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension or caring for a person with a disability.

Extending these payments to those aged under 66 and not in receipt of a disability type payment such as those in receipt of the One Parent Family Payment or Jobseekers Transition would be a significant policy change to these schemes and could only be considered while taking account of overall Government policy and in a budgetary context.

The estimated yearly cost of the provision of the Living Alone Increase to all those in receipt of One Parent Family Payment and Jobseekers Transition payment would be in the region of €70 million.

The estimated yearly cost of the provision of Household Benefits package to all those in receipt of One Parent Family Payment and Jobseekers Transition is €31 million. This estimate takes account of the fact that an estimated 20% of people in receipt of One Parent Family Payment already have access to the Household Benefits package.

However, where there are cases of special need my Department may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the customer’s own resources, and which are deemed to be necessary.

The schemes are demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.

I trust that this clarifies these matters for the Deputy.