Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
944. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason the cost-of-living measures applied to certain social welfare payments, as announced in Budget 2024, were not available to persons on a disablement pension and unemployability supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1103/24]
View answerDisablement Benefit is part of the Occupational Injuries Benefit scheme. This scheme caters for people injured or incapacitated by an accident at work or while travelling to or from work. The scheme also covers people who have contracted a disease as a result of the type of work they do.
Disablement Benefit is a compensation payment and can be paid alongside other social welfare payments. People in receipt of Disablement Pension (without another payment) can work, full or part-time. Those who are unfit for work may qualify for Illness Benefit or another social welfare payment based on their social insurance contributions (PRSI). Alternatively, they may qualify for Incapacity Supplement.
Payments under the Occupational Injuries Benefit scheme, including Disablement Benefit, did not qualify for the once-off Cost of Living support payment in November 2023, because there are no limits to the amount that recipients can earn from work or they may already be in receipt of a supplement on an ongoing basis in the form of Incapacity Supplement.
They are, however, eligible for other increases in payment rates and double-payments announced under Budget 2024. Recipients of Disablement Benefit received the Christmas Bonus in early December and will receive the Cost-of-Living Bonus in late January, which both provide 100% increases in the weekly rate of payment for recipients. The maximum rate of Disablement Benefit has also increased by €12 per week this month, with an additional €4 weekly increase for qualified children. From January 2023, Disablement Benefit was disregarded from the means test for Fuel Allowance. In November 2023, households getting the Fuel Allowance received a €300 cost-of-living lump sum payment.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
