Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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125. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide an update on the report on benchmarking and indexing working age social protection rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50573/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 contains a commitment to "Consider and prepare a report for Government on the potential application of the benchmarking approach to other welfare payments".

The roadmap also includes a commitment to develop a benchmarking approach for use in adjusting the value of State pension payments. 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 proposed by the Department to index the rate of State Pension payments was subsequently endorsed by the Commission on Pensions and 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.

In 2022 the Government decided that the Minister for Social Protection would, in submitting budget options, set out a rate of pension payment calculated using the smoothed earnings benchmark approach as an input for consideration as part of Budget discussions, on an annual basis, starting from September 2023.

Since then, this calculation has been prepared and submitted annually to Government as part of preparations for the Budget.

A report on the benchmarking and indexing of working age social protection rates is being undertaken by my Department.

The Government has also committed, under the Programme for Government - "Securing Ireland’s Future", to increase core welfare payments, ensuring that resources are also targeted at people who are unable to work over the lifetime of the Government.