For the purposes of providing the response to the Deputy's question, the figures used are those from my Department that relate to the State Pension (Contributory) at 31 December 2021, and are set out in the table below.
The annualised expenditure estimate and breakdown by gender are based on State Pension (Contributory) recipients at 31 December 2021 and administrative data at 30 June 2022. The estimate includes 52 weeks of payments + 1 week Christmas bonus and supplementary payments including Living Alone Increase, Increase for Living on a Specified Island, Increase for Qualified Adult, Increase for Qualified Child and Over 80s Allowance.
At 31-Dec-2021
|
Women
|
Men
|
Total
|
Full (personal) rate
|
|
|
|
Recipients
|
92,270
|
178,284
|
270,554
|
Expenditure (€bn)
|
1.3
|
2.8
|
4.1
|
Partial (Personal) rate
|
|
|
|
Recipients
|
94,127
|
104,053
|
198,180
|
Expenditure (€bn)
|
0.9
|
1.1
|
2.0
|
Total Recipients
|
186,397
|
282,337
|
468,734
|
Total Expenditure €bn
|
2.2
|
3.9
|
6.1
|
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.