Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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658. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on progress being made to support those living alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16539/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to these primary payments, my Department also provides a range of other payments on a weekly, monthly, or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary in nature and cannot be made available to those who are not in receipt of a primary payment.

The rate of primary and secondary payments, and their adequacy, are considered in the context of the annual budgetary process. In doing so, the Government considers evidence from a wide range of sources, including agencies such as the CSO, and also research submitted by advocacy groups such as the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, who have a measure they call the “Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL)”.

The data shows that the cost of living for a single person is slightly more than the individualized cost of two people living together. For this reason, the Living Alone Increase (LAI) is available to those in receipt of qualifying payments.

The LAI is one of those secondary payments. It is not a scheme or a stand-alone payment, but it is a supplement to a primary social protection payment of €22 per week made to people aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. A person eligible for the LAI will receive the full €22 supplement even if they are not in receipt of the maximum rate of their primary payment.

For those aged 66 or over, payments eligible for the LAI include State Pension (Contributory), State Pension (Non-contributory), Widow’s, Widower’s, or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme, Incapacity Supplement under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme and Deserted Wife's Benefit. LAI is also paid to people aged under 66 who live alone and are in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement or Blind Pension.

There are no circumstances where the LAI can be paid to people who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment from my Department or who do not meet the living alone eligibility criteria.

There are a number of additional supports in the social welfare system which could, subject to meeting the qualifying criteria of the schemes, further benefit a person living alone:

• The Household Benefits Package. There are 2 allowances in the Household Benefits Package, Electricity/Natural Gas Allowance of €35 monthly (€1.15 per day) and Free Television Licence.
• The Fuel Allowance which is paid from the end of September to April each year for 28 weeks. The current weekly rate of Fuel Allowance is €33.
• A person who qualifies for both the Living Alone Increase and the Fuel Allowance will automatically qualify for the Telephone Support Allowance. This payment aims to help those living alone with the cost of communications and/or home alert security systems.
• Furthermore, my Department operates Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people of any age, who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.