Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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1025. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount each weekly social protection payment should be at to maintain their value compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019) in real, inflation-adjusted terms, in tabular form; the rates these should be at if indexed against employment earnings for the same period to restore the real value of core rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11576/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The table below sets out the weekly social protection payment rates when indexed to inflation and earnings, compared to the maximum personal rate base rate from (2019). It also includes the 2025 rate, along with the weekly equivalent of the various cost-of-living measures introduced since 2023 (the total divided by the number of weeks since 2023):

*Typically not eligible for cost of living bonus

**EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (CSO Table CPM15, COICOP 00).

***Average weekly earnings excluding irregular and overtime earnings (CSO Table EHQ03).

****Note: the 2025 rate does not include the weekly equivalent for the Christmas Bonus, Working Family Payment Lump Sum, Living Alone Allowance Lump Sum, Fuel Allowance Lump Sum, Increase for Qualified Child Lump Sum.

It is worth noting that indexing weekly social protection rates to only one measure, such as inflation, presents a challenge as it can widen the income gap between those dependent on social protection payments and other people in society.

The smoothed earnings approach developed to index the rate of State Pension payments addresses this challenge as it links the pension rate to 34% of average earnings, and allows for variation in periods where inflation exceeds earnings growth. This approach to calculating an indexed rate for State Pension payments has been an input to the annual budget process since it was first calculated in September 2023.

Any increases calculated under the smoothed earnings approach may be met, or exceeded, by a combination of rate increases and one-off measures taken by the Government in periods of high inflation.

Budget 2025, announced in October 2024, was the largest social protection budget in the history of the State. It provided an across the board weekly increase of at least €12 on most schemes, with some, including maternity benefit, increasing by more. These weekly increases came into effect from the start of this year and were supplemented by significant lump sum measures delivered in Quarter 4 last year.