Definitely, new claims are not liable. We have changed the rules on the administrative basis for new claims. I will have to revert to the Deputy on whether, based on the review, it has been possible to make the changes. I will double-check. The legislation is a bit more complex than we initially thought. Different parts of it, both secondary and primary, are affected, so the officials have to go through them all in detail to ensure every aspect of the three measures is covered. When we make the changes, we want to …

I thank Deputy Gannon for raising this matter. I recognise the challenges that the increased cost of living has brought to many households. The Parliament is very well aware of the pressures faced by households and has not been found wanting. Last September, I announced the largest social protection budget in the history of the State, comprising measures worth almost €2.2 billion. This budget provided a combination of eight lump sum payments and a €12 across-the-board increase in weekly rates – the largest such inc…

I thank the Deputy. He will agree that the Government, since its formation in 2020, has provided unprecedented supports to protect people and families, first during the pandemic and then with the cost of living. We provided €19 billion in direct income supports through the pandemic unemployment payment and wage subsidy scheme. Those supports were put in place quickly and helped to ensure the country would rebound strongly. That is why we now have full employment and more people at work than ever before. I know thin…

Nobody should be going without food. The additional needs payment is available and people can apply for it. It is there to be paid out and I encourage people, if they are in any sort of difficulty such as the Deputy mentioned, to go to their community welfare officer or make a telephone call. There is an online presence as well. I do not want to hear about anybody going without food. That really should not be happening. I ask the Deputy to bring any examples to me and I will look at them personally. People should n…

As Minister for Social Protection, I fully recognise the challenges the increased cost of living has brought to many households. Last September, I announced the largest social protection budget in the history of the State, comprising measures worth almost €2.2 billion. The budget was innovative in providing a mixture of eight lump sum payments, delivered in late 2022, and a €12 across-the-board increase in weekly rates, which was the largest such increase since the mid-2000s, along with increases in targeted scheme…

We must take all the available supports into consideration. I offer an example of a lone parent with a 12-year-old child. Such parents will have received all the electricity credits last year, the lump sums under the fuel allowance of €125 and €100, and €100 for each child under the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. In autumn 2022, there was the double weekly payment, the €200 electricity credit, the fuel allowance €400 lump sum, a double monthly payment of child payment, a working family payment €500…

I accept that core payments are important. I agree with the Deputy on that. I wanted to put money into people's pockets in order that they could pay their bills. That is why the lump sums were there last year. They are also there this year. That is in addition to the electricity credits. It is about paying the bills. As I have said, if you look at the data over the year, you will see that people were actually better off with the lump sums. They had more money in their pocket with the lump sums. When this is combine…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. First of all, no money has been taken from anybody. I will read the reply I have, which explains exactly how this situation arose. My Department provides a wide range of income supports and employment supports to assist jobseekers and employees with disabilities. The partial capacity benefit, PCB, scheme allows a person in receipt of an invalidity or illness payment to enter employment or self-employment and continue to receive a partial or full payment. The amo…

No.

To clarify, this was a genuine error on the part of the Department and it will be rectified. As I have said, as Minister for the Department, that I apologise for the error. Officials had understood that the living alone allowance should not be paid in tandem with PCB. Upon further review, it is now clear that PCB customers should retain their living alone allowance when moving from an invalidity pension and that these letters should not have issued. I extend my apologies to the man the Deputy has mentioned for any …

Some 180 PCB claimants are in receipt of the living alone allowance. This allowance is paid at the same percentage as PCB. Some 13 claimants have a 100% PCB weekly entitlement while 58 claimants have a 75% PCB weekly entitlement and 109 have a 50% weekly entitlement. Letters issued to all 180 throughout June 2023 informing them that PCB was not a qualifying scheme. It is now clear that PCB customers should retain their living alone allowance on a pro rata basis when moving from invalidity pension and that these let…

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 inc…

No.

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…

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 w…

I am acutely aware, as everyone is, of the pressures faced by households given increases in the cost of living. Thankfully, this Government's management of the Irish economy means that even in the face of challenging international conditions, we have the capacity to respond, and we have responded. Last September, I announced the largest social protection budget in the history of the State comprising measures worth almost €2.2 billion. This budget did not take the approach of simply increasing payment rates in line …

I think that any fair-minded person would agree that this Government has, since its formation in 2020, provided unprecedented supports to protect people and families, first through the pandemic and then with the cost of living. I will just give Deputy Murphy an example. We can all get tied up in statistics but what I want to see is money in pockets. If we take a lone parent with a 12-year-old child, the once-off spring-summer payments came to a total of €525, whether that was the electricity credit or the lump-sum …

If we are going to compare statistics, analysis by the ESRI shows that, combined with the increase in the core social welfare payment rates, these lump sums effectively compensated lower income households for price increases and, in fact, were more effective than an index-linked increase in core rates. I reiterate that what I want to see is money in people's pockets when they need it to pay the bills and put food on the table. Deputy Murphy mentioned food banks. People who cannot put food on the table should talk t…

Responsibility for Government policy on remote working lies with my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. As the Deputy may be aware, under current social security arrangements, it is open to workers resident in Northern Ireland who are working with a southern-based company to work from home one day per week and to remain attached to the PRSI system here. If they work two days or more from home in Northern Ireland, they will generally be subject to UK social security legislation. My Departme…

During Covid, it was agreed across the EU that teleworkers could work from home all the time and remain paying their social insurance contributions in the state of their employer. This temporary agreement has now ended and a new voluntary framework agreement for teleworking has been drafted by the administrative council, which is responsible for co-ordinating social security across the EU. The agreement, which EU member states can voluntarily sign up to, allows teleworking rates to increase from 25% to 50% without …