Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2020
508. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports available to older persons and those that had to cocoon during the Covid-19 emergency and generated greater than average household costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14046/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe primary State income support in respect of people who are aged 66 years or over is the State Pension – either the contributory State pension or the non-contributory pension, which is means tested.
Recipients of State pension payments may, subject to satisfying eligibility conditions, have access to a range of additional supports. These supports include the living alone increase, household benefits, telephone support allowance, fuel allowance and free travel.
A pensioner who is living alone can receive the living-alone increase, which was increased from €9 to €14 per week at the beginning of the year.
The household benefits package (HHB) is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. My Department will spend approximately €265 million this year on HHB. It consists of the gas / electricity element of the package (€35 a month) and the free TV licence element.
The Fuel Allowance which was increased by €2 in Budget 2020 is a payment of €24.50 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €686 for the fuel season) from October to April at an estimated cost of €261 million in 2020. The purpose of this payment is to assist qualifying households with their energy costs.
During the COVID-19 emergency, the Government has been seeking to implement and operate supports that are targeted where most needed, to ensure continued economic activity and reduce the risk of poverty. In March, as part of Government COVID-19 response measures, the Fuel Allowance scheme was extended by four weeks until Friday, 8th May 2020. At a cost of €36.61 million, the extension of the fuel season for over 369,000 existing eligible households was put in place, to ensure that the most vulnerable groups, particularly older people in receipt of State pensions, were provided with additional targeted financial supports. This extension meant that the 2019/2020 Fuel Season ran to the latest end date of any season in the last 30 years.
The telephone support allowance (TSA) is a weekly payment of €2.50. The estimated full year cost of the scheme is over €17.5 million. To receive the allowance a customer of my Department must be in receipt of a qualifying payment such as the State pension and also in receipt of the Living Alone Allowance and the Fuel Allowance and the scheme supports recipients by assisting with the cost of communications and/or home security solutions.
While I fully understand that these are difficult and distressing times for many people, especially for the vulnerable and the elderly, any further economic measures can only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.
Furthermore, my Department operates both Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people of any age, who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
