Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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672. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on how the State pension payment is being protected, as set out in the Programme for Government, in circumstances where the recent €12-per-week increase has resulted in the weekly pension payment dropping to just 30% of the average weekly wage from 32% prior to Budget 2025. [44567/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In assessing Budget options, the Government was mindful that the cost of living pressures are most acute over the winter period. For that reason, rather than taking a simplistic approach to applying an indexed rate of increase to weekly rates of payment, the Government decided to 'front-load' supports through the provision of once-off payments, including extra payments for pensioners receiving Fuel Allowance, those in receipt of carer’s payments and those living alone.

These payments will be provided in addition, not only to the €12 increase in the weekly payment rate, but to the double week payments delivered in October and December.

This combination of once-off payments means that, in real terms, pensioners are receiving a much larger increase than €12 per week while ensuring that a significant proportion of this value is delivered when people need it most over the winter period.

Post Budget analysis by the ESRI that shows that the package of measures introduced under Budget 2025 will result in average gains in income for most households next year.

This package including the cost of living measures are key in ensuring the most vulnerable in our society are protected from the increased cost of living.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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673. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection what plans the Government has to benchmark the State old-age pension, as recommended in the Commission on Pensions, in order to protect elderly citizens from falling into poverty. [44568/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Roadmap for Social Inclusion contains a commitment to develop a benchmarking approach for use in adjusting the value of State pension payments. The approach proposed by the Department, known as the smoothed earnings approach, was subsequently endorsed by the Pensions Commission.

Government subsequently decided that the Department of Social Protection would, in submitting budget options, set out a rate of pension payment calculated using the smoothed earnings benchmark approach as an input for consideration as part of overall Budget discussions, on an annual basis, starting from September 2023.

I can confirm that this calculation was again prepared and submitted to Government as part of preparations for Budget 2025 in September 2024. In assessing Budget options, and taking account of this calculation, Government was mindful that the cost of living pressures are most acute over the winter period. For that reason, rather than taking a simplistic approach to applying an indexed rate of increase to weekly rates of payment, the Government decided to 'front-load' supports through the provision of once-off payments, including extra payments for pensioners receiving Fuel Allowance, those in receipt of carer’s payments and those living alone.

These payments will be provided in addition, not only to the €12 increase in the weekly payment rate, but to the double week payments delivered in October and December.

This combination of once-off payments in conjunction with the €12 weekly rate increase, not only exceeds the value of a benchmarked increase but ensures that a significant proportion of this value is delivered when people need it most over the winter period.

Post Budget analysis by the ESRI that shows that the package of measures introduced under Budget 2025 will result in average gains in income for most households next year.

This package including the cost of living measures are key in ensuring the most vulnerable in our society are protected from the increased cost of living.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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674. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide a detailed update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on Pensions, specifically on the creation of a separate account within the social insurance fund to fund State pensions. [44569/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In September 2022, in response to the report from the Commission on Pensions, I announced the largest ever series of reforms to the State Pension System. Since this announcement, the following reforms have been introduced:

• State Pension age is remaining at 66 years and is not increasing to 67 or 68 over time as recommended by the Commission.
• A person can now choose to defer drawing down their State Pension to any age between 66 and 70.
• Considerable enhanced State Pension provision for people who have been caring for incapacitated dependents for 20 years or more.
• A ten-year phased transition from the yearly average method of calculation of State Pension (contributory) to the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) as the sole method of calculation will begin in January 2025.
• A smoothed earnings method to calculating a benchmarked/indexed rate of State Pension payments has been introduced as an input to the annual budget process.
• Social Insurance contributors now have access to an improved PRSI contribution statement and can now more easily understand their contribution history.
• The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (D/ETE) is introducing legislation that will allow an employee to stay in employment until the State Pension age meaning a contract of employment cannot be used to compel them to retire before State Pension Age if they wish to remain in employment.

The PRSI Roadmap with proposed PRSI increases was published in Q4 2023 and the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 now sets out the PRSI increases of 0.7% for employers, employees and the self-employed over the next 5 years.

Any further increases will be set every five years, and informed by the outcome of the Actuarial Review of the SIF.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.