Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2017
1872. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reviews or analysis that have been carried out to assess the adequacy or otherwise of the living alone allowance; if none have been carried out in recent years, her plans to conduct such a review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38195/17]
View answerPrimary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to the living alone increase my Department pays out a range of other payments, both cash and non-cash on a weekly, monthly or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary in nature.
The living alone increase is an additional payment of €9.00, and it is not a payment in its own right, but rather it is a supplement to a social welfare payment made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments, who are living alone, (the increase is not means tested payment). It is also available to people who are under 66 years of age, who are living alone and are in receipt of Disability Allowance , Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement and Blind Pension. There are currently 196,509 recipients of the living alone Increase.
The rate of primary and secondary payments to pensioners, 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)”. I am informed that the minimum level of income considered adequate as set out by that measure is €214.69 weekly for a single person of working age, and €216.38 weekly for a pensioner.
The combined payments made to recipients of the Living Alone Allowance – which includes their primary payments (such as Disability Allowance or a State pension non-contributory), the Living Alone Allowance, Fuel Allowance and Household benefits - result in weekly income that is above both of those thresholds. Currently, a recipient of disability allowance who lives alone receives the equivalent weekly income of approximately €221.30 per week, and a state pension non-contributory recipient living alone receives the equivalent of a weekly income support of some €255.30 per week, both of which are in excess of that standard.
While this means that payments are in excess of these adequacy thresholds found by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, the ambition of the Government in this regard is more than adequacy, and where budgetary constraints can be overcome, the Government has striven to increase them to higher levels. The level of the Living Alone Allowance is reviewed on a periodic basis. Any increases are, however, subject to the normal budgetary constraints.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
