Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2024
480. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of payments made in respect of the cost-of-living allowance paid to those living outside of Ireland; the number of recipients; the list of countries and how much was paid in total; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16526/24]
View answerPersons entitled to receive their social welfare benefit abroad are also entitled to cost of living lump sum payments to help with the cost of living. This includes, for example, recipients of State Pension Contributory, Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension or Invalidity Pension. In 2023 there were approximately 63,000 recipients receiving 91,000 cost of living allowance payments (Budget 2024). The data requested by country by the Deputy is shown in the below table. Note that all figures are preliminary estimated from individual payments excluding arrears. Note that only a person's current country of residence is readily available in my Department's records. Due to this limitation, the table below is a record of all cost of living payments paid in the calendar year 2023 to people who were resident outside Ireland in March 2024. As such, it does not include payments made to people who moved to Ireland in 2023, while it includes payments made to people who lived in Ireland in 2023 before moving away.
|
Country |
Expenditure (million €) |
|
Ireland |
812 |
|
United Kingdom |
5.0 |
|
Poland |
1.1 |
|
USA |
0.8 |
|
Australia |
0.7 |
|
Spain |
0.4 |
|
Canada |
0.3 |
|
Germany |
0.2 |
|
Lithuania |
0.2 |
|
France |
0.2 |
|
Other countries |
1.2 |
