Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 May 2023
366. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of extending eligibility for the household benefits package to all pensioners and to all in receipt of the working family payment and/or a medical card, and by increasing the rate to €60; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23793/23]
View answerThe Household Benefits Package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. My Department will spend approximately €285 million this year on HHB for over 511,000 customers.
People over the age of 70 receive the HHB package, with one package provided per household. The package is also available to people living in the State aged 66-69 years who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments or who satisfy a means test. The package is available to some people under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments.
My Department does not hold data on persons in receipt of a medical card and is therefore unable to provide a costing for the extension of these measures to this cohort.
There are approximately 674,685 pensioners in receipt of qualifying payments for HHB. Of these, 383,250 are already in receipt of HHB package. This would give an additional 291,435 HHB claims if HHB was awarded to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment for HHB. My Department does not hold data on household composition of pensioner households and, therefore, HHB may already be payable to another member of the household. Taking this into consideration, the estimated cost of extending eligibility for the HHB to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment is as follows: -
|
Yearly cost per claim |
Number of Recipients |
Additional Yearly Cost |
|
€580 (€35 a month electricity/gas rate + €160 TV licence) |
291,435 |
€169m |
|
€880 (€60 a month electricity/gas rate + €160 TV licence) |
291,435 |
€256.5m |
Based on 48,661 recipients of the working family payment (WFP) and a yearly cost of €580 per HHB claim, extending the HHB to all those in receipt of WFP would cost an estimated €28.2 million. If also increasing the monthly rate to €60, the cost would be an estimated €42.8m for WFP recipients.
|
Yearly cost per claim |
Number of Recipients |
Additional Yearly Cost |
|
€580 (€35 a month electricity/gas rate + €160 TV licence) |
48,661 |
€28.2m |
|
€880 (€60 a month electricity/gas rate + €160 TV licence) |
48,661 |
€42.8m |
If the increases to the electricity/gas element outlined in the question were introduced in 2024, the estimated additional yearly cost for those estimated to be in receipt of HHB in 2024 based on current qualifying criteria (533,000) along with the additional claims if the measure in relation to pensioners and WFP was implemented would be as follows: -
|
Proposed Monthly Rate Increase |
New Monthly Rate |
Number of Recipients |
Additional Yearly Cost |
|
€25 |
€60 |
533,000 projected number based on current eligibility |
€159.9m |
|
€25 |
€60 |
340,096 new |
€102m |
|
Total |
|
873,096 |
€261.9m |
The estimated combined additional yearly cost of the measures outlined by the Deputy would be in the region of €459.2 million .
Any decision to change the qualifying criteria for the HHB package payment or to increase the electricity/gas element of the package would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
