Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
95. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has considered increasing social welfare rates given the recent Central Statistics Office report highlighting the potential increases to those at-risk of poverty in 2021 without Covid-19 emergency payments. [24589/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra126. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has plans to address the concerns regarding the effectiveness of the social welfare supports that are available to families and households in response to a survey (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24654/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 126 together.
I welcome the recent publication of the 2021 SILC data, which shows improvements across the key national poverty indicators, including child poverty. The data shows that household incomes across all income deciles have increased and also that income inequality has decreased.
Throughout the last number of years, social transfers have performed strongly in reducing the at-risk-of-poverty rate. This is once again confirmed by the 2021 SILC, which shows that social transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate from 38.6% to 11.6%, or 27 percentage points in absolute terms. This represents a 70% reduction on the at-risk-of-poverty rate in 2021. Ireland is consistently one of the best performing EU countries in reducing poverty through social transfers.
As the Deputy will be aware, income and living conditions were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic over the reference period covered by the survey. I am pleased that the results show the poverty reduction impacts of the COVID-19 income supports provided by Government.
As part of the normal budgetary cycle, my Department is guided by evidence-led research produced by organisations such as the CSO, the ERSI and the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.
Over the last two Budgets, my Department has sought to protect the most vulnerable through a mixture of increases in general social welfare payments as well as through targeted increases to secondary payments such as Fuel Allowance, Living Alone Allowance and Qualified Child payments.
As a result of these measures, many of the most vulnerable social welfare recipients have seen significant increases in their weekly payment.
For example, over the last two years, a lone parent with two children under 12 years has seen their income increase by €21.50 per week during the fuel season. They will also benefit from the €10 increase in the Back to School, Clothing and Footwear Allowance. A single pensioner living alone has also seen an increase of €21.50 per week during the fuel season.
In addition to these Budget measures, the Government has acted quickly and decisively to introduce further targeted measures aimed at offsetting the increased cost of living for social welfare recipients.
In March, a once-off lump sum of €125 was paid to all households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance payment, at a cost of approximately €49 million. A further lump sum payment of €100 is also being paid to these households – costing €37 million.
The increase of €10 to the weekly income threshold of the Working Family Payment was brought forward, taking effect from early April 2022 rather than from June.
My Department will continue to monitor key economic indicators and take account of research data including that of the Survey on Income and Living Conditions to ensure that the social welfare system continues to perform well in addressing poverty and disadvantage.
