Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
111. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Social Protection to outline the actions she will take to address the alarming increase in the number of retired people at risk of poverty as in the public service performance report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33174/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis is my real question. The public service performance report made for stark reading. It shows an alarming rise in the number of retired people at risk of poverty in 2022. It is deeply concerning that one in five retired people is now at risk of poverty. What new actions is the Minister taking to address this alarming increase in the number of older and retired people at risk of poverty?
I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for her question. A core objective of my Department is the reduction of poverty. The at-risk-of-poverty rate is a relative income poverty measure, tracking the national equivalised median income as it rises and falls. In other words, it compares each person's income to the income of the person in the middle of the income distribution. For a person to be assessed as at risk of poverty, their equivalised income must be lower than 60% of this median value.
This also means that if median incomes rise faster than the rate of inflation, as they have in Ireland, more people can be reported as being at risk of poverty even if the value of their own income is maintained in real terms. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, reports an inflation-adjusted measure to account for this effect. In Ireland, what is known as the anchored at risk of poverty, which is the measure that tracks inflation, fell from 13.2% in 2020 to 9.1% in the 2022 survey on income and living conditions, SILC. It is also important to note that the 2022 SILC data are based on income from the 2021 calendar year and, as a result, are considerably out of date. They do not include or reflect the very significant increases and improvements for pensioners introduced by the Government in budgets 2022 and 2023, and in a series of cost-of-living measures.
These increases and improvements included a total €17 increase in the weekly rate of State pension payment since 2022, along with a double payment in October 2022, the Christmas bonus in December 2022 and an additional €200 lump sum paid in April 2023.
For those in receipt of the living alone increase, fuel allowance or carer’s support grant, further one-off lump-sum payments were made. The fuel allowance scheme was also expanded through improvements to the means test for those aged over 70. These households would also have benefited from the electricity credit scheme. This Government has already responded in a big way to cost pressures faced by older people and we will continue to do so in the context of the forthcoming budget. I trust this clarifies the matter.
It seems the Minister is refuting these figures but-----
-----the percentage of older and retired people at risk of poverty has gone from 11.9% to 19.1%, as of last week. Pre-pandemic, one in ten retired people was at risk of poverty. In 2022, this spiked to one in every five people. I do not think we can ignore these figures. I know statistics mean statistics but at the end of the day, we have elderly people who are struggling. There were a number of once-off payments but many of these did not kick in until January, so people had to go through the winter months without them.
I will give the Minister an example. We talked earlier about joined-up thinking. Someone from Belmullet or elsewhere in County Mayo who needs to access hospital services in Galway can use the entire weekly pension to fund travel to that hospital appointment. The whole payment will be wiped out for a week. I understand what the Minister is saying about the extra payments, and I acknowledge them, but these often go into one pocket and are then taken out of the other pocket.
To clarify what was paid, in 2022, a single retired person on the contributory State pension received €200 in electricity credit in April 2022 and a €125 lump-sum payment was made to those receiving fuel allowance, as well as a €100 lump-sum payment to households in receipt of lump-sum payments. That gives a total of €225, with one payment in March and one in May. In the autumn, then, we had a double weekly payment of €253. This was paid in October 2022. There was also a €200 electricity credit in November 2022, as well as a fuel allowance lump-sum payment of €400 and a living alone allowance lump-sum payment of €200, and then a 100% Christmas bonus, which amounted to another €253. In the spring of this year, another €200 electricity credit was paid in January, a €200 electricity credit was paid in March and a €200 lump-sum payment was made to the primary recipients of long-term social welfare payments in April. When we add up all these payments, from spring last year until now, we get a total of €2,331.60 in additional payments. This is the weekly equivalent of €44.83. We can have statistics, figures and everything else, but the bottom line is there is more money in people's pockets to pay the bills. That is what I am about here.
In the context of the public service performance report, the statistics on income and living conditions, SILC, data used were from 2021, so nothing that came in during 2022 or in 2023 was included. I will, however, look at these things of course. I will meet the stakeholders on Monday week to hear what they will have to say regarding the budget. I recognise it is important that we have the core payments but these top-up or lump-sum payments have made a difference to people. As I said, we will continue to keep them all under review.
If those payments were not provided, the figures would be even starker. The Minister cited a figure of €44 weekly but she knows what it takes when people do their shopping, pay extra medical expenses and everything else that goes with the rising cost of living and inflation. The Government this week published the summer economic statement, which states on the first page that there was "little, if any, evidence of [economic] ‘scarring’ from [recent] shocks". I would call record waiting lists and homelessness deep scars. What is also happening is that where people cannot access basic medical care, they must try to find or borrow money to try to get it. One system is feeding into the other in respect of the expense it is costing people to live.
Celebrating gross domestic product, GDP, and tax revenues is tone-deaf when people are struggling more than ever with the cost of living. The success of the economy is measured in how it cares for its people. We must see what the reality is like. It is not only to be seen in respect of fuel poverty but also in fuel deprivation. We are in July but we will be heading into the winter again before too long. We are already conscious of the number of people who are scared to put on their heating and live in the way they should be living, enjoying a quality of life. This is because they are scared of not having the money or of having to borrow and then owe money.
Regarding fuel, I expanded the fuel allowance to the over 70s and increased the means test to €500 for single people and €1,000 for a couple. This has brought many more older people into the net where they can benefit from the fuel allowance. I do not want to see any old person being afraid to turn on the heating. This is not where we want to be. Extensive renovations are being carried out now on many homes to improve their energy efficiency. There are the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, grants, as well as those available through the local authorities for people who have disabilities and those older people who also need essential repairs to their houses.
By the way, the €44.83 is only the weekly increase for the lump-sum payments. This does not include the €12 weekly increase in January last year, which brings the amount up to €56 weekly. As I said, this is about putting money in pockets. I know the cost of living requires a lot of money. I also know what it is like in rural Ireland. In counties Cavan and Monaghan, we have an excellent Local Link service which is putting on services to bring people to hospitals. We had a group of people up from Monaghan last week, from the Cancer Resource of Caring, Understanding and Support, CROCUS, group. Through CLÁR funding, my Department was able to provide money for a vehicle and this allows the group to bring people to hospital appointments. We should be looking at this aspect to try to support people because it is not easy when they are sick and need to get to hospital.
