I propose to take Questions Nos. 406 to 408, inclusive, 410, 414, 416, 419, 420, 423 and 428 together.
The costings sought by Deputy O’Dea are detailed in the following series of tables.
Table 1: Full year cost of varying increases in all weekly social insurance payments
-
|
€5 increase
|
€10 increase
|
€15 increase
|
€20 increase
|
€25 increase
|
Schemes
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
Social Insurance Schemes
|
181.26
|
362.52
|
543.78
|
725.04
|
906.3
|
Table 2: Full year cost of varying increases in all weekly social assistance payments
-
|
€5 increase
|
€10 increase
|
€15 increase
|
€20 increase
|
€25 increase
|
Schemes
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
Social Assistance Schemes
|
159.1
|
318.2
|
477.3
|
636.4
|
795.5
|
Table 3: Full year cost of increasing the Living Alone Allowance by varying amounts
Weekly Increase
|
Cost
€m
|
€2.00
|
20.87
|
€3.00
|
31.31
|
€4.00
|
41.74
|
€5.00
|
52.18
|
€6.00
|
62.61
|
€7.00
|
73.05
|
€8.00
|
83.48
|
€9.00
|
93.92
|
€10.00
|
104.35
|
Table 4: Full year cost of increasing the duration of the Fuel Allowance by varying numbers of weeks
Number of weeks
|
Cost in 2019
€m
|
1 week
|
8.58
|
2 weeks
|
17.16
|
3 weeks
|
25.74
|
4 weeks
|
34.32
|
5 weeks
|
42.90
|
6 weeks
|
51.47
|
Table 5: Full year cost of increasing all of the weekly income thresholds for Working Family Payment by varying amounts
-
|
€5 increase
|
€10 increase
|
€15 increase
|
€20 increase
|
€25 increase
|
Scheme
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
Working Family Payment
|
11.7
|
21.9
|
31.5
|
43.2
|
53.6
|
Table 6: Full year cost of increasing the Carer’s Support Grant by varying amounts
Annual Increase
|
Cost in 2019
€m
|
€50.00
|
5.63
|
€100.00
|
11.26
|
€150.00
|
16.89
|
€200.00
|
22.53
|
€250.00
|
28.16
|
Table 7: Full year cost of increasing the monthly electricity allowance and the natural gas allowance by varying amounts
-
|
Monthly Electricity Allowance
|
|
Monthly Natural Gas Allowance
|
Monthly Increase
|
Cost
€m
|
Monthly Increase
|
Cost
€m
|
€5.00
|
23.30
|
€5.00
|
2.84
|
€10.00
|
46.61
|
€10.00
|
5.68
|
€15.00
|
69.91
|
€15.00
|
8.52
|
The 2018 Revised Estimates for Public Services provides €246.8 million in 2018 for the household benefits package.
Table 8: Full year cost of increasing the monthly Child Benefit rate by varying amounts
-
|
€5 increase
|
€10 increase
|
€15 increase
|
€20 increase
|
€25 increase
|
Scheme
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
Child Benefit
|
71.8
|
143.7
|
215.6
|
287.5
|
359.4
|
Table 9: Full year cost of increasing Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Invalidity Pension by varying amounts
Scheme
|
€5 increase
€m
|
€10 increase
€m
|
€15 increase
€m
|
€20 increase
€m
|
Disability Allowance
|
37.5
|
75.1
|
112.6
|
150.2
|
Carer’s Allowance
|
10.9
|
21.8
|
32.6
|
43.5
|
Blind Pension
|
0.3
|
0.7
|
1.0
|
1.4
|
Invalidity Pension
|
17.2
|
34.3
|
51.5
|
68.6
|
An 85% Christmas Bonus was paid in December 2017 to over 1.2 million long-term social welfare recipients, including all recipients of invalidity pension. The cost of the Christmas Bonus paid to invalidity pension recipients is estimated at €11.1 million.
The costs shown above are on a full year basis and are based on the estimated number of recipients in 2018. It should be noted that these costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2019. It should also be noted that these costings include proportionate increases for qualified adults and for those on reduced rates of payment, where relevant.