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this reason that the living alone increase is available to those in receipt of qualifying payments from my Department. The living alone allowance is a supplementary payment to those who are 66 or over, living alone and in receipt of a State contributory pension, State non-contributory pension … receipt of one of those specified payments. In total about 260,000 people receive the payment weekly. The current rate of the living alone allowance is €22 a week. It has increased by over 144% since 2019, when it was just €9 per week. The most recent change

targeted at vulnerable groups. It also includes a commitment to examine key ancillary benefits, including the fuel allowance, household benefits package and living alone allowance to support vulnerable groups. This is an ongoing activity as part of the Department's budget planning each year. As part of budget … licence, with an annual payment of €580 per recipient. The Department will invest approximately €317 million this year in this package. The living alone allowance is a supplement to a primary social protection payment of €22 per week, €1,144 a year, made to people aged

home do not. That is something I ask the Minister to examine. The other thing I would say regarding the living alone allowance is that when the State spends money it inevitably has an impact on inflation. Regarding increasing the living alone allowance, this relates to costs which … advocating for increases in the payments but I am saying it is something to be conscious of that the living alone allowance itself does not have as much of an inflationary leakage or impact. It is something to consider

isolated in rural areas and entirely reliant on State support. One of the things the Minister mentioned was the increase to the living alone allowance. He selectively looked at 2019. The majority of that increase happened in 2020 and there has not been a significant increase … living alone allowance since. What will the Minister do on the living alone and telephone allowances in the forthcoming budget? What is the threshold for him to tackle poverty for people living alone

anomalies I am looking at in the context of my previous discussion with Deputy Hayes. We are also looking at the living alone allowance. A person living on their own does not necessarily have half the costs. It is a rather arbitrary figure. In particular, it is especially … food and less chance to make up that in terms of day-to-day earnings. In the context of looking at the living alone allowance increase and the fuel allowance payment for budget 2027, they are areas we will be considering. I look forward to engagement across

need to work better in terms of making the living alone allowance available quicker and providing information on it. There is also the fuel allowance. I am also conscious we have not increased the living alone allowance since budget 2022, so we have some way to catch

will work with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on that. The living alone allowance is also available for people in that situation and it is €1,144 a year. The weekly rate for the living alone allowance is higher than the 28 weeks of the fuel allowance payment

most pressure and, in particular, to support, as we have discussed at considerable length this morning, those in receipt of the living alone allowance. Anomalies in this regard have been highlighted by Deputies Burke, McAuliffe and O'Reilly. We want to look at those. There … areas in which we can iron out difficulties. As Deputy Hayes stated earlier, the living alone allowance and the fuel allowance affect people in different ways. We have to make sure that we try to ensure consistency. That will be part of our overall budgetary process, but that

Social Protection to confirm whether an examination of improvements to key ancillary benefits such as the fuel allowance, household benefits package and living alone allowance to support older and vulnerable groups has occurred as per the programme for Government; if not, when this examination will occur

programme for Government includes a commitment to examine key benefits such as the fuel allowance, the household benefits package and the living alone allowance increase to support vulnerable groups. This will be ongoing activity as part of our annual budget planning process. I intend to continue to make

targeted more by allowing people the choice to spend the money on whatever energy source they want. The position with the living alone allowance is similar. There has been an increase since 2019, and an increase in the overall budget, which is substantial, but still not enough people

they lose their partner. They are left with the same expenses but their income is reduced. We are definitely looking at the living alone allowance but, as I said, when you look at the level of increase since 2019, it is 144%. It was €9 per week … allowance and the free TV licence. We are looking to see if those payments continue to be relevant in the context of different forms of communication, such as streaming services, etc. I want to make sure that communications are as relevant as possible because for somebody living alone

payable to all those aged 66 and over, who are in receipt of a State pension payment from my Department. The living alone allowance has risen by over 144% since 2019, when it was €9 per week. It is paid to about 260,000 people every week … groups such as the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice and its minimum essential standard of living, which has just been published today. I am very conscious about the pressures facing those living alone. It will very much feed into my work in the context of budget

Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will give consideration to changing the living alone allowance in the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46357/26

questions. I think I submitted too many. I ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will give consideration to changing the living alone allowance. I note his previous reply to Deputy Hayes as well

does is make women wait. It delays access to healthcare at what is already one of the most difficult moments in their lives. Do we really believe that women have not already thought long and hard about this decision before they walk through the door … State-imposed delay and allows a woman, in consultation with her healthcare provider, to decide what is right for her and when. The legislation recognises a very simple truth, which is that women are capable of making decisions about their own lives and their own bodies. We said

would strongly welcome the Minister doing that in the forthcoming budget. To come back to the fuel allowance in particular, many older people are struggling to heat their homes. They are often staying in bed rather than getting up because they cannot afford the gas or the home … households in arrears, according to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. I assume that many households like that include older people living alone. The Minister's Department, in particular, has an obligation to look at how it targets energy credits for different people. I know

people already in energy arrears. The only thing that is protected is the profits of energy companies. They have been allowed to hedge prices up and up, insulating their profits from any global shocks without the smallest regard for the bills that land on the kitchen tables … finding it increasingly hard to get by. For weeks we have called on the Government to introduce an emergency cost-of-living budget, with energy credits to help thousands with these rip-off prices. The Government has ignored us and our demands. This legislation is testament

because without accessible childcare, financial supports alone are not enough. That is why areas experiencing rapid population growth, for example, north County Dublin, must be prioritised for additional childcare provision. Alongside this, we must continue to invest in the fundamentals that allow communities to grow. That includes … budget 2026 is very welcome but families also need certainty that overall school capacity will keep pace with demand. That is what allows communities to put down roots with confidence. We are also seeing very substantial investments at a national level in public transport, water infrastructure and strengthening

those the Deputy referred to. The redeveloped primary mathematics curriculum of 2023 strengthens this further by including money as a stand-alone strand unit. This allows children to gradually build their understanding of money, its value, its uses and how to work confidently with notes and coins … certificate subjects, financial literacy continues to be strengthened. The revised leaving certificate business specification helps students understand how business connects to their own lives while building financial and business literacy. The draft specification for leaving certificate home economics includes family resource management, where students learn about consumer empowerment

professionals. Two further events are planned later this year. That engagement is important. Care pathways are not an abstract policy tool. For people living with rare diseases, they mean the difference between joined-up care and fragmentation; between clarity and confusion; and between confidence and crisis. We must … improving and the implementation plan addresses those issues directly. For far too many families, however, their experience is still one of navigating complexity alone. When I launched the national rare diseases strategy last August, a phrase that really stuck with me, which I understand captures the experience

disability services and to advancing the rights and improving the lives of people with disabilities. To deliver on this, I established a stand-alone Cabinet committee on disability. This committee has met eight times to date, most recently on 27 April and it is due to meet again … framework for the whole-of-government approach to addressing disability. It represents our commitment and ambition that all disabled people in Ireland can live the life of their choosing and participate in their communities and our society to the fullest extent possible. In budget 2026, we have taken

Limerick city and St. James's Primary School in Dublin, who contributed to the committee's work. Their input was invaluable. Their lived experience, expertise and insights were central to the development of the report and its recommendations. While reading the report, I encourage the Minister of State … that education does not end at the school gate. The programme embeds counselling, therapy and family support services within the school environment, thus allowing pupils and parents to access help that would otherwise be difficult for them to navigate. It is a model that could be looked

much as it is a question of our climate obligations and the cost-of-living implications of this strategy. The Government must be honest about the consequences and costs of allowing more and more of our energy to be used by data centres. It must be honest that … interests. That is why we are calling for the introduction of a levy on data centre energy usage. It is about fairness. Not alone are data centres pushing up prices for everyone else but we have a ludicrous situation where they are actually paying less than your average

purpose and was never adhered to. In 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025, the DAA knowingly ignored and exceeded the cap. Last year alone, the cap was exceeded by over four million passengers. As this Bill is very light on detail, Sinn Féin will be tabling amendments to address … This means a better public transport system that includes delivering the long overdue metro north project. The lifting of the cap cannot be allowed to contribute to worsening the traffic chaos that already exists in Swords and Dublin Fingal East. We will also be seeking wider investment

Social Protection to confirm whether an examination of improvements to key ancillary benefits such as the fuel allowance, household benefits package and living alone allowance to support older and vulnerable groups has occurred as per the programme for Government; if not, when this examination will occur

Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase the living alone allowance in Budget 2027, in recognition of the increasing cost of living in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43815/26

Energy and the Environment if he will consider extending the eligibility criteria for the warmer homes scheme to include recipients of the living alone allowance, thereby allowing them to qualify for free home energy efficiency upgrades. [49348/26

Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will give consideration to changing the living alone allowance in the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46357/26

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection to give consideration to increasing the living alone allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46330/26

Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection to significantly increase the living alone allowance; and to review the qualifying criteria. [46326/26

Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) would be financially better off on the State pension (non-contributory) and living alone allowance rather than their current adult dependent allowance given their spouse is in long-term care with no prospect of them returning home. [45015/26

Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of a €5 increase in the weekly living alone allowance payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45034/26

Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the additional first year and full-year cost of increasing the living alone allowance. [43130/26

Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection the current rate of the living alone allowance; the most recent occasion there was an increase in this allowance; if he will consider an increase to this allowance in budget 2027; and if he will make a statement

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an ongoing review of the rate payable under the living alone allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43852/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of people in receipt of the living alone allowance, broken down by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43853/26

Protection the position regarding the engagement he has had with a NGO or charity in relation to the rate payable under the living alone allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43854/26

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection if the rate payable under the living alone allowance is under consideration in the context of budget negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43855/26

Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to an increase in the living alone allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43942/26