Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

273. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the blind pension weekly income disregard by €10. [45964/24]

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

My Department provides a suite of income supports for those unable to work due to illness or disability. These include insurance-based schemes, based on Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions, and means-tested social assistance schemes.

The primary social assistance scheme for people who are blind or visually impaired is the Blind Pension, which is a means-tested payment and the only income support payment designed to cater for a specific disability, paid to people aged 18 to 66 years. Eligibility for Blind Pension requires that a person’s vision is impaired to such an extent that they cannot perform any work for which eyesight is essential or cannot continue in their ordinary occupation.

Recipients of Blind Pension can take up employment and may continue to receive their income support. Recipients can work while in receipt of their payment, but income is assessable as means. Persons can currently earn up to €165 per week and keep their payment in full and can earn up to €505.10 per week and keep a small portion of their payment and their secondary benefits.

As of September 2024, there were 99 recipients of Blind Pension who were in employment. The estimated, conservative cost of increasing the income disregard to €175 per week would amount to almost €26,000.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

274. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the top-up payment for participants on CE, TÚS and the rural social scheme by €5. [45965/24]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department offers a range of employment schemes and other supports to encourage long-term unemployed people to return to work, while also assisting communities across the country in the provision of vital services. They are targeted at people who have been on an unemployment payment or certain other social welfare payments for a specific period of time.

Community Employment (CE) and Tús are employment activation measures designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis. The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is an income support initiative that provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are underemployed in their primary occupation.

There are currently 19,339 participants on CE, 4,503 participants on Tús and 2,693 participants on the RSS. Government investment in the schemes will amount to over €500 million in 2024.

As part of the Budget 2025 measures, CE, Tús and RSS participants will receive an increase in their weekly payment arising from the increase in core social welfare payments of €12.00 per week with effect from 1st January 2025. Participants also receive the weekly top-up allowance of €27.50. In effect, these changes ensure that the minimum payment for participants will increase from €259.50 per week to €271.50 per week from January 2025.

In addition, all participants have received the October 2024 Cost of Living double week payment and will also be eligible for the Christmas double payment in December 2024, and for those eligible the double payment of Child Benefit to be paid in both November and December 2024.

A number of once off Cost of Living bonus payments were also announced in Budget 2025, which will benefit eligible CE, Tús and RSS participants, including a once off payment of €300 for those in receipt of the Fuel Allowance, €200 for those in receipt of Living Alone Allowance and €100 for those in receipt of an Increase for a Child Support Payment (CSP) (previously known as Increase for a Qualified Child).

It is estimated that the annual additional cost of increasing the weekly top-up payment of €27.50 for CE, Tús and RSS participants by €5, based on the total number of places available on the schemes, would be approximately €8 million.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

275. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the carer’s allowance to €325 per week and abolish the means test associated with the payment. [45966/24]

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

The estimated full year cost to increase the Carer's Allowance payment for over 66's from its current weekly rate €286, to a weekly rate of €325 is €22.5m. The estimated full year cost to increase the Carer's Allowance payment for under 66's from its current weekly rate €248, to a weekly rate of €325 is €262.5m. The combined cost is €285m.

Estimating the abolition of a means test is difficult and any such estimate is by definition high level and as such should be treated with caution as the actual outcome may be quite different. The Department estimates that removing the means test for carer's allowance in its entirety would give rise to additional costs of more than €600 million. Taking account of estimates of inflows, this could potentially increase to between €880 million and €2 billion a year.

The costs shown above are on a full year basis and are based on the estimated number of recipients in 2025. It should be noted that these costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2025.