Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
810. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to extending eligibility to the living alone allowance to people in receipt of the one-parent family payment or jobseeker's transitional payment, who are the sole source of income to their household; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12598/23]
View answerPrimary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to these primary payments, my Department also provides a range of other secondary payments.
The Living Alone Increase (LAI) is one of those secondary payments. It is not a scheme or a stand-alone payment, but rather it is a supplement to a primary social protection payment, at a rate of €22 per week, paid to people who are living alone and in receipt of certain social welfare payments:
- people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of State Pension (Contributory), State Pension (Non-Contributory), Widow's, Widower’s, or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension, Widow's, Widower’s, or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension, Widow's/Widower's Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme, Incapacity Supplement under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme, Deserted Wife's Benefit, and who are living alone.
- people who are less than 66 years of age, living alone who have a long-term illness or disability and in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement or Blind Pension.
The One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is a payment for lone parents under 66 who are not cohabiting, and whose youngest child is under 7. The Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) is a special arrangement under the Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme that aims to support lone parents into the workforce while they have young children. It is a payment for lone parents whose youngest child is aged between 7 and 13. Both payments are means tested. Recipients can engage in employment and continue to receive a payment if they continue to satisfy the means tests and conditionality.
While recipients of One-Parent Family and Jobseeker’s Transitional Payments do not qualify for the LAI, both OFP and JST payments are comprised of both a personal weekly rate and increases for each qualified child (IQC). Over the past three budgets, IQC rates have increased by €6 (to €42 per week) for under 12s and by €10 (to €50 per week) for over 12s.
Any decision to extend the LAI would have to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
