Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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53. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the estimated cost of all means tested payments and supports in 2024; if any Departments are seeking to expand such payments by revision of such tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17778/24]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, means tested schemes are in place across a broad number of Government Departments to determine eligibility and rates payable for certain payments and supports. Means tests seek to ensure that scarce resources are allocated in a manner that reflects the policy objective of the scheme and allocate the available resources as effectively as possible to those most in need of support.

My Department does not collate information on the estimated cost of all means tested payments and supports. Some examples of such schemes and their associated Budgets are as follows:

In the Department of Social Protection, for example, social assistance schemes are generally subject to means testing. This would include Jobseeker’s Allowance (with a budget of almost €2billion in 2024), Disability Allowance (with a budget of €2.2 billion in 2024) and Carer’s Allowance (with a budget of €1.1 billion in 2024).

In the Health service, an important means test relates to the Medical Card scheme. The budgetary allocation by the Department of Health for 2024 for medical cards stands at just under €778m to cover GP fees related to costs arising from medical cards, just over €523m for Medical Card Schemes, and €20m allocated for medical cards provided to Ukrainian refugees. The medical card can also be used as a means to access support in other areas, such as free school transport.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth facilitates the administration of a number of means tested schemes. The National Childcare Scheme consists of a universal element (the universal subsidy) and a means tested element (the income assessed subsidy). Whether families qualify for the universal or Income Assessed subsidy depends on their particular family circumstances. The 2024 NCS budget is €369m. The Department also has responsibility for the Blind welfare allowance with a budget of €11.690m and the Mobility allowance with a budget of €8.244m.

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has an allocation in 2024 of approximately €391m for the Student Support Grants (SUSI).

Relevant schemes in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage include the Rental Accommodation Scheme (with an allocation of €111m in 2024) and the Housing Assistance Payment (with an allocation of €525m in 2024).

The policy considerations around the revision of means tests are a matter, in the first instance, for each of the relevant Ministers. I am aware that revisions have been made to means tests in recent years by a number of Ministers, such as increases in the income and capital disregards applied in some tests. These have generally been made in the context of the annual budgetary process. Any proposals by individual Ministers to change or expand such payments by amendments to the means tests in the future would be a matter for consideration in the context of the overall annual budget process in light of the available resources and competing priorities.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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56. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has considered the extent of unclaimed benefits across different Government programmes; if he would consider establishing a cross-government initiative to better promote take-up of these schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15267/24]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I would like to acknowledge the deputy's interest in the issue of benefit take-up; and note that the deputy has raised this issue recently in relation to a number of specific benefits and tax reliefs including Working Family Payment, Carer’s Support Grant, the Household Benefits Package, and tax allowances and reliefs.

In relation to this question concerning benefits across Government, I take benefits to be referring to payments and free or subsidised access to services, such as the medical card, which are available through the State. There are many benefits available through the State, administered across a wide range of government departments and bodies. Over €53 billion in gross non-pay current expenditure has been allocated for 2024, a large proportion of which is for the provision of such benefits. These benefits typically have a claims process to establish eligibility, collect applicant details, payment details, and so forth.

The State typically does not have information on eligibility in the absence of eligible claimants making contact with the relevant body to claim the benefits to which they are entitled. My Department does not have access to the extent to which benefit take-up estimates are available across the Public Services.

That being said, there are some areas where research or recipient numbers suggest that take-up is lower than expected, such as the Working Family Payment administered by the Department of Social Protection or the expanded eligibility for GP visit cards administered by the Department of Health. Departments are making efforts to increase take-up in such cases.

I would like to acknowledge there has been a lot of good work done across Government in recent years to boost public awareness through public information campaigns and enhance online information and application processes. However, I believe more can be done to support eligible citizens' awareness of benefits to which they are entitled and navigate the application process. I consider further initiatives in this space to be the responsibility of the department or body with responsibility for administering each benefit.

The aim of increasing benefit take-up is very much in line the ‘Better Public Services’ strategy being driven by my Department. ‘Better Public Services’, the public service transformation strategy, was launched in 2023. It encourages Public Service Bodies to identify and prioritise organisational actions aimed at putting the service user first in developing seamless and inclusive services for the public.