Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1616. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of increasing all social insurance payments by amounts (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1222/18]
View answer1617. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of increasing all social assistance payments by amounts (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1223/18]
View answer1619. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of increasing the living alone allowance by amounts (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1225/18]
View answer1620. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of increasing the fuel allowance by one, two, three, four, five and six weeks, respectively, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1226/18]
View answer1625. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of increasing the carer's support grant by amounts (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1232/18]
View answer1628. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of the household benefits package; the full-year cost of increasing the monthly electricity allowance and the natural gas allowance by €5 and €10, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1235/18]
View answer1632. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of extending the Christmas bonus to persons in receipt of the invalidity pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1239/18]
View answer1637. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of increasing disability allowance, carer's allowance, blind pension and invalidity pension by €5, €10, €15 and €20, respectively, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1245/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1616, 1617, 1619, 1620, 1625, 1628, 1632 and 1637 together.
The costings sought by Deputy O’Dea are detailed in the following series of tables.
Table 1: Full year cost of varying amounts in all weekly social insurance payments
|
Schemes |
€5 increase |
€10 increase |
€15 increase |
€20 increase |
€25 increase |
|
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
|
|
Social Insurance Schemes |
181.26 |
362.52 |
543.78 |
725.04 |
906.3 |
Table 2: Full year cost of varying amounts in all weekly social assistance payments
|
Schemes |
€5 increase |
€10 increase |
€15 increase |
€20 increase |
€25 increase |
|
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
|
|
Social Assistance Schemes |
159.1 |
318.2 |
477.3 |
636.4 |
795.5 |
Table 3: Full year cost of increasing the Living Alone Allowance by varying amounts
|
Weekly Increase |
Cost €m |
|
€2.00 |
20.87 |
|
€3.00 |
31.31 |
|
€4.00 |
41.74 |
|
€5.00 |
52.18 |
|
€6.00 |
62.61 |
|
€7.00 |
73.05 |
|
€8.00 |
83.48 |
|
€9.00 |
93.92 |
|
€10.00 |
104.35 |
Table 4: Full year cost of increasing the duration of the Fuel Allowance by varying numbers of weeks
|
Number of weeks |
Cost in 2018] €m |
|
1 week |
8.58 |
|
2 weeks |
17.16 |
|
3 weeks |
25.74 |
|
4 weeks |
34.32 |
|
5 weeks |
42.90 |
|
6 weeks |
51.47 |
Table 5: Full year cost of increasing the Carer’s Support Grant by varying amounts
|
Annual Increase |
Cost in 2018 €m |
|
€50.00 |
5.63 |
|
€100.00 |
11.26 |
|
€150.00 |
16.89 |
|
€200.00 |
22.53 |
|
€250.00 |
28.16 |
Table 6: Full year cost of increasing the monthly electricity allowance and the natural gas allowance by varying amounts
|
Monthly Electricity Allowance |
Monthly Natural Gas Allowance |
||
|
Monthly Increase |
Cost €m |
Monthly Increase |
Cost €m |
|
€5.00 |
23.30 |
€5.00 |
2.84 |
|
€10.00 |
46.61 |
€10.00 |
5.70 |
The 2018 Revised Estimates for Public Services provides €246.8 million in 2018 for the household benefits package.
Table 7: Full year cost of increasing Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Invalidity Pension by varying amounts
|
Scheme |
€5 increase €m |
€10 increase €m |
€15 increase €m |
€20 increase €m |
|
Disability Allowance |
37.5 |
75.1 |
112.6 |
150.2 |
|
Carer’s Allowance |
10.9 |
21.8 |
32.6 |
43.5 |
|
Blind Pension |
0.3 |
0.7 |
1.0 |
1.4 |
|
Invalidity Pension |
17.2 |
34.3 |
51.5 |
68.6 |
An 85% Christmas bonus was paid in December 2017 to over 1.2 million long-term social welfare recipients, including all recipients of invalidity pension. The cost of the Christmas Bonus paid to invalidity pension recipients is estimated at €11.1 million.
The costs shown above are on a full year basis and are based on the estimated number of recipients in 2018. It should also be noted that these costings include proportionate increases for qualified adults and for those on reduced rates of payment, where relevant.
