Written answers

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Social Welfare Benefits

Photo of Mark WallMark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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166. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of the living alone allowance for each of the last four years; the number per county; and the cost to his Department for each of those last four years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39881/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Living Alone Increase is an extra payment for people on social welfare payments who are living alone. A breakdown by county of those receiving the Living Alone Increase at the 31st December in each of the years 2021-2024 is provided in the table below. It is not possible to provide the expenditure associated with the Living Alone increase as expenditure is recorded under the primary social welfare scheme.

Photo of Mark WallMark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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167. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons or couples in receipt of the telephone allowance for each of the last four years; the number per county; and the cost to his Department for each of those last 4 years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39882/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Telephone Support Allowance is a weekly payment for people who live alone and are already in receipt of certain other social welfare payments. It is paid at a single rate of €2.50 a week.

The number of recipients of Telephone Support Allowance by county at the 31st December in each year from 2021 to 2024 is provided in Table 1 below, and overall expenditure in these years is provided in Table 2.

Table 2: Telephone Support Allowance Expenditure, in € millions, by year.

Year Expenditure (€ millions)
2021 18.12
2022 18.38
2023 19.95
2024 20.73

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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168. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline the number of persons that have availed of parents benefit in 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; the number of mothers and the number of fathers who have availed of parent’s benefit in each of these years; if he believes further steps can be taken to encourage greater uptake of parent’s benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39920/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Parent’s Benefit was first introduced in 2019 with an initial entitlement of 2 weeks per parent. By July 2023, the entitlement increased to 7 weeks per parent and as of August 2024, 9 weeks of Parent’s Benefit is available to each parent.

Since its introduction, the weekly rate of Parent’s Benefit has been increased in line with Budget announcements. Most recently, as part of Budget 2025, the weekly rate of Parent’s Benefit increased by €15, bringing the current rate to €289 per week.

The current Programme for Government includes commitment to introduce a Pay-Related Parent’s Benefit and to explore the application of a similar model to other social welfare payments. It also commits to examining the further expansion of Parent’s Leave and Benefit, as well as additional flexibilities in how this leave may be taken.

The number of people receiving a Parent's Benefit Payment in the first quarter of each year from 2022 to 2025, broken down by males and females, are provided in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Parent's Benefit recipients, by quarter.

Quarter Female Male Total
2022Q1 10,738 4,822 15,560
2023Q1 13,496 7,093 20,589
2024Q1 12,517 7,466 19,983
2025Q1 17,589 9,529 27,118

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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169. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance for 24 months or longer, by county; if he will confirm when he intends to publish a new employment strategy focused on intensive engagement with those most distant from the labour market as committed in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39921/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The breakdown by county for the number of people in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) for more than 2 years.My officials have commenced work on a successor to the current employment services strategy, Pathways to Work Strategy 2021-2015. This new strategy will aim to carry on from the success of its predecessor which has focused on removing barriers to employment, providing tens of thousands of training and education places, enhancing the Public Employment Service, providing incentives to employers to take people off the Live Register, and delivering a special package of supports for those most disadvantaged and distant from the labour force.

A public consultation process on this new employment strategy was launched last week and runs until the end of September. I hope that all the relevant stakeholders and interested parties will make submissions to the consultation. I intend that the new successor Pathways to Work will be published in Quarter 1 2026.

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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170. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons that have benefitted since the minimum required hours under the wage subsidy scheme was reduced from 21 hours to 15 hours in April 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39922/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a key disability employment support provided by my Department. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to people with disabilities through a subsidy.

Last year, my Department published a review of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, following a public consultation. The review made six recommendations to make the scheme more flexible and effective, including a recommendation to reduce the minimum required hours of the scheme from 21 to 15 hours per week. The recommendations were accepted and the reduced hours requirement has been in place since April 2024.

Of the 2,506 employees who were employed under the Wage Subsidy Scheme at the end of June, 257 were working between 15 and 20 hours.

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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171. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when he plans to publish draft proposals for consultation on the new working age payment, which will ensure that inconsistencies within the social welfare system, which disincentivise work, are removed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39923/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the Programme for Government commitment, my Department is examining a new Working Age Payment which will ensure that individuals always see an increase in income when they work or take on additional hours. An outline of a proposed approach was previously published as part of the strawman consultation process on the introduction of new pay-related benefit.

My officials are currently exploring potential models for a new Working Age Payment and it is intended to publish proposals for consultation later in the year.

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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172. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons over 66 who have qualified for the fuel allowance since the expanded means test for over 66s was introduced, by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39924/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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As announced in Budget 2025, from the 1st January 2025, the Fuel Allowance qualifying conditions for those aged over 70 were extended to those aged over 66 and the means threshold increased to €524 for a single person and €1,048 for a couple.

In December 2024, there were 221,459 recipients aged 66 and over in receipt of Fuel Allowance. Under the new criteria, the number recipients of Fuel Allowance rose to 223,650 aged 66 and over in January 2025. The number of recipients of Fuel Allowance peaked to 225,464 aged 66 and over in March 2025.

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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173. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of a widows pension who are under age 66; if he will provide an estimated cost of allowing persons in receipt of widow’s pensions to access illness benefit in the event that they get sick at work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39925/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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As at end June 2025, there are 28,468 people aged under 66 years in receipt of Widow’s / Widower’s / Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension.

As at end June 2025, there are a further 973 people in receipt of Widow’s / Widower’s / Surviving Civil Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension.

Illness Benefit is the primary short term income support provided by my Department to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance. Eligibility for Illness Benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. People must have made the required number of contributions under PRSI classes A, E, H or P to qualify.

Widow’s / Widower’s / Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension (Contributory) is a weekly social insurance payment to those who have lost their spouse or civil partner and are covered by social insurance.

Widow's / Widower's / Surviving Civil Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension is a means-tested payment payable to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner who does not qualify for a contributory widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner’s payment.

It is not currently possible for the Department to develop a costing in this regard as we do not have collated information on the contribution and employment status of these two separate groups, which would be crucial in estimating potential costs for these sub-population to access Illness Benefit.

However, if a person is getting a reduced rate of Widow’s / Widower’s / Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension (Contributory), they may also get a reduced rate of Illness Benefit, so that the combined amount of both payments is not greater than the maximum rate of Illness Benefit to which they would otherwise be entitled.

With regard to additional supports, my Department also provides an additional needs payment under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme to help meet essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.

My Department will continue to keep its range of supports under review to ensure that they meet their overall objectives. Any changes to the current system, including those referred to in the Deputy's question, would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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174. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of extending the period of a social welfare payment following the death of a dependent from 6 to12 weeks as committed in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39926/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The parties to Government have agreed a number of commitments that are to be achieved over the lifetime of the Government, some of which are relevant to my Department.

The Deputy can be assured that I am determined to deliver on these commitments and will take the opportunity afforded at budget time each year to progress them as far as possible. The Deputy will understand that not everything can be delivered all at once but the commitments we made in forming the Government will be delivered over the full term of the Government.

I have already commenced consideration of options for the Social Protection package as part of Budget 2026 including extending the period of payment after death, where on the death of the recipient, qualified adult or child, the benefit in question continues to be paid for a number of weeks.

The proposal in the Programme for Government is to extend the period of payment after death from the current 6 weeks to 12 weeks. While in general, across Social Welfare schemes, payment continues for a period of 6 weeks after death, there are some exceptions.

In fact some Social Welfare Payments are already paid for a period of 12 weeks after the death of the recipient. In the case of Carer’s Allowance, the payment continues for a period of 12 weeks after the death of the person being cared for and in the case of Domiciliary Care Allowance, payment currently continues for a period of 3 months after the death of the recipient.

Like all budget provisions, such a measure is subject to the overall budgetary context and competing priorities, and I will not at this time, so far in advance of the budget, be making any commitments one way or the other.

Photo of John Paul O'SheaJohn Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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175. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of extending illness benefit to the self-employed; if he will outline the estimated increase in PRSI rates which would be required to meet this cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39927/25]

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Self-employed contributors pay class S PRSI at a rate of 4.1%. This is 11.15 percentage points lower than the combined employer and employee contribution of 15.25% made in respect of employed contributors. However, self-employed contributors do have access to over 90% of benefits available to employed contributors.

The Programme for Government includes an action to explore the option of giving self-employed workers access to illness benefit by means of making a higher PRSI contribution. My Department has commenced work in this regard. This work includes analysis and assessments of potential costings and the appropriate PRSI rates required in those contexts.

Any changes to the current system would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.

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