Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1390. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration will be given to amending the eligibility criteria for the living alone allowance, to allow individuals who do not qualify for the State pension (contributory or non-contributory) to access the allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18747/25]

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 Living Alone Increase (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.

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. Any change to the qualifying criteria for this payment would have to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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1391. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration will be given to making the authorisation for dependent spouse dental benefits permanent rather than requiring renewal every three months, in order to reduce administrative burden and prevent repeated efforts for applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18749/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Treatment Benefit is a PRSI-based scheme which provides free dental and optical services, and assistance towards the provision of audiological appliances and hair replacement products, to people who satisfy certain qualifying conditions, and to their dependent spouses/partners.

Applications for Treatment Benefit are now routinely submitted on-line via the Department's Welfare Partner’s portal. Where a customer is qualified in their own right, contracted dentists/opticians can check eligibility, get approval and claim payment online.

The scheme is a pre-approval scheme, and eligibility needs to be confirmed before treatment is provided. Payment is made directly to the contracted dentist/optician who provided the treatment.

A spouse/partner of a qualified contributor can also qualify if they are financially dependent on them. In these cases, a paper application form (DE2), signed by both the qualified contributor and their spouse needs to be submitted to the Treatment Benefit section for prior approval.

If qualified, the approval status is visible to the dentist/optician on-line and an approval letter issues to the customer, who can then attend for the approved treatments. Approval remains valid for a period of 100 days.

If the customer does not attend for treatment within the 100-day period, a new application may be submitted.

I hope this clarifies this matter for the Deputy.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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1392. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will ensure that all forms related to social welfare benefits, including the dependent spouse dental benefit application form, are made available for download online to improve accessibility and convenience for applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18750/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Customers can download one or more of the over 122 application forms available on the department’s ‘Request Postal Application Forms’ webpage on gov.ie.

Additionally, customers can order application forms on the department’s ‘Request Postal Application Forms’ webpage on gov.ie. Requests through this service are processed quickly, with application forms posted directly to customers’ specified addresses.

My department encourages people to apply online as such applications are processed immediately, in real time with no delays. We are working to bring more schemes online as set out in the Statement of Strategy (2023-2026). Our online portal, MyWelfare, provides a safe, secure and accessible means for customers to apply for a wide and growing range of social welfare payments, make declarations, request statements, and calculate benefits. Similarly, Welfare Partners enables business partners to conduct several services electronically, including Treatment Benefit, Community Employment Sponsor service, Wage Subsidy Scheme, Redundancy and Insolvency services and A1 certificates (for workers posted abroad). Spousal Dental claims all involve a manual application form, and providers will always have a stock of these.

In 2024, MyWelfare facilitated over 3 million transactions and in December the platform exceeded 15 million customer transactions since its launch in 2015. There have been over 29 million transactions on Welfare Partners since 2017, with over 5 million transactions completed in 2024, the highest number of annual transactions ever facilitated on the platform.

In 2024, we introduced self-service computers in 55 Intreo centres, with staff trained to provide support to customers. This initiative aims to ease customers’ transition to digital services, enabling customers who do not have access to technology or broadband to access and apply for services online. As the demand for online services continues to grow, our mission is to prioritise the delivery of online services with a view to having 90% of the department’s applicable services online by 2030.

At the same time, my department provides alternative channels for customers to access Social Welfare application forms. They can be requested by phoning the department or obtained from any of the department’s 62 Intreo centres, the 55 branch offices or from Post Offices nationwide.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.