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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

invest in our pensioners - not just in the weekly rate but the supports and other payments that are available, such as the living alone allowance, the fuel allowance and access to other payments. As I have said throughout the morning, we have done a lot of work

Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection to increase the living alone allowance in recognition of the significantly lower income available to qualifying single householders relative to couples. [15159/26

line in November: not one but two double payments of child benefit; a €400 lump sum for carers; €200 on the living alone allowance; and so much cash to toss around that the Government even had a €280 grant to wet new babies' heads. The Government was literally

Since 2008, the consumer price index has increased by 20.8%. The State pension has increased by 24%, before taking account of the living alone allowance and the fuel allowance. Since 2016, CIÉ salaries for active staff have increased by approximately 30%. However, the CIÉ pensioners have

opposed to energy credits, so it is interesting. A lot of the measures we introduced last year were targeted, like the living alone allowance and the qualified child increment lump sum and the working family payment. Some of the progressive measures I introduced with the additional tax credits

found wanting in that regard. The Department provides targeted payments to help people with their household costs. I listed the fuel allowance, the living alone increase, the household benefits package and additional needs payment because it is a comprehensive suite of measures and investment by Government. While these … Government that 1.1 million people, including people living in rural and urban areas, farms and non-farms, and businesses will be connected by 2026. I reassure the Deputy that the Department will continue to support recipients of the telephone support allowance, especially where they are vulnerable

from our day-to-day experience with our own families, but also from our constituencies, that the cost and the cliff for those living alone, particularly those who have suffered bereavement or separation, is particularly tight. We are very conscious of that. That is why there has been … allowance, which we increased in budget 2026. A person who is in receipt of a pension and who qualifies for the living alone and fuel allowances also receives the telephone support, which is an extra €2.50 per week. We look again at the costs on a 2026 basis

important. Equally important is the increase in the single income limit for a pensioner to receive the fuel allowance. I know of many older people living alone, often older women, who depend on a modest pension. They face the same cost … heating a home for one as for two. Increasing the single income threshold will bring more people into the fuel allowance scheme. The increase in the living alone payment will give further respite to those living on their own. We have a childcare package, fuel supports and supports

allowance, which is impacting not only on pensioners but also on people with disabilities and people living alone - people who would have higher energy costs and more challenging household bills. The allowance is frozen, the electricity bills are not and older people, people with disabilities and people living

Calleary, who sends his apologies. The telephone support allowance is €2.50 a week for people who are getting both the living alone increase and the fuel allowance, and one of a number of payments that I will not go through because the Deputy knows all the payments associated

costs a lot more money than what the grants will provide. In that context, I am wondering about making the fuel allowance automatic for people living alone rather than having their income assessed

supposed to protect the most vulnerable households in our society, including older people, low-income families, people living alone and those wholly dependent on supports like the fuel allowance. Right now the scheme is failing them and it is about to get far worse. I will outline … people on the fuel allowance, the key qualifying criteria for the warmer homes scheme, is expanding dramatically. From next year those on the working family payment will be eligible. That is an additional 50,000 households, bringing the total number of fuel allowance recipients to more than

credit. Does it know how much rents are increasing by? Does it know what it did last year in the budget by allowing landlords to increase rents? The increase is gone before renters even get it. The Government's refusal to ban rent increases means it knows absolutely … made. We needed to see an increase of €15, which Sinn Féin called for. Pensioners living alone should have been given €20, which Sinn Féin called for, and people on disability allowance should have seen their payment increase by €25. They also needed immediate lump sums because

disability face additional costs of between almost €9,000 and more than €12,000 per year. People living on disability allowance cannot be expected to absorb such massive costs alone. Budget 2026 should have been the budget in which the Government finally implemented the cost-of-disability payment … disabled people. The Minister mentioned in his speech that the Government had increased the disability allowance by €10. Is he aware that a number of approved housing bodies where many of those living with a disability are living - and thankfully living - have recently increased their rents

fuel prices, it is welcome to see support being provided to offset this cost. The fuel allowance has also increased to €43 a week, with wider eligibility for older persons living alone aged over 66. Childcare costs will be capped at €550 a month from September for children

also those who have disabilities and those who are living alone. It is part of the programme for Government to review the household benefits package. What plans does the Minister have to increase the free electricity allowance in order that it better reflects the energy costs households

need fundamental reforms that support households with the rising cost of living. The Government needs to bring forward a second tier of child benefit payment to support those on lower incomes. That cannot be done alone because many working families are also struggling. They are struggling … times already. I refer in particular to older people who live alone. This is a massive issue for my office. The Government must look at increasing welfare payments for older people, starting with increasing the fuel allowance, extending the season and increasing the household benefits package. I look

lives of older people. A key focus for Government is about allowing older people to continue to live independently in their own homes and communities for as long as they wish. In health alone we have seen an increase of €215 million. It is a 7% rise

rural communities with healthcare, education and employment. Housing is another central issue. Rural communities cannot thrive if the next generation cannot afford to live in them, if workers cannot move into them, if older people have no suitable options to downsize locally or if families are forced … language cannot be sustained by rhetoric alone. It needs living communities behind it, affordable homes for young families, schools, childcare, transport, healthcare, digital infrastructure, local employment and cultural spaces. We cannot celebrate the Gaeltacht as part of our national identity while allowing housing pressures, lack or services

with energy poverty this winter. If someone is an older person living alone, this week, he or she will, quite rightly, have received a double payment of their State pension. Older people will receive the fuel allowance, which is now up to over €1,000 a year. That

Cork two weeks ago. She is a single mother living alone with her son. Her payments are going to be cut off in two weeks’ time. She is going to be left on the disability allowance of €254 per week. She has a mortgage of €800 and will

powered home-heating systems, and I agree with that. We need to go further and faster in rolling out supports and incentives to allow people to wean themselves off fossil fuels. We need to make EV grants, heat pumps, insulation, solar panels, batteries and so on more accessible … income families and single adults living alone, exactly the people most in need of support at the moment. Will the Deputies who are advocating for cuts to the carbon tax go back to their constituencies and gleefully tell pensioners on fuel allowance the good news that they will

place to send letters. In towns and villages across Ireland, the post office is the lifeline for communities. For many older people, those living alone and especially for people in rural communities, the post office is where the pension is collected, bills are paid and where the friendly … offices have closed in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan in the past ten years alone. These closures did not happen by accident, and they are certainly not the fault of the people who live in their communities. They are the result of political choices, a failure to properly

many are denied carer's allowance simply because their spouse earns just over the threshold. That is not support; it is punishment. We are facing a serious shortage of nursing home beds. In Bantry alone, 17 beds remain closed in Aperee Living Nursing Home - an issue I brought

Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will examine extending eligibility for the telephone support allowance in Budget 2027 beyond the current “living alone” requirement to include recipients of disability allowance and pension payments who rely on mobile phones for safety, independence, and access

Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection whether his Department has reviewed the requirement that a person receive both the living alone increase and fuel allowance to qualify for telephone support allowance; whether the weekly income limit for fuel allowance for persons aged 66 or over will

Minister for Social Protection if he will consider altering the criteria for the means test for fuel allowance to allow a greater income threshold for those living alone considering the fixed cost of maintaining a household; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30738/25

Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on the merits of expanding the fuel allowance to include all persons over the age of 70 that live alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61835/25

review the one-payment-per-household rule for the fuel allowance scheme whereby adult children on low incomes are living in the family home due to the housing crisis and are refused support based on parental income alone, despite individually qualifying for the scheme; and the plans

asked the Minister for Social Protection to consider changing the eligibility criteria for fuel allowance given the increasing numbers of adults living at home, where a single pensioner (details supplied) who lives alone falls well below the income threshold and is eligible for the payment, however if they

increasing by €1 per week the State pension (contributory and non-contributory); the living alone increase; all primary weekly social welfare payments including, but not limited to, jobseeker's payments, disability allowance, one-parent family payment and carer's payments; and the estimated number of recipients covered

receipt of disability-related social welfare payments, including disability allowance and invalidity pension, and who are medically assessed or otherwise deemed to be at risk of falls or living alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15390/26

cases where an applicant is an adult in receipt of disability allowance but is assessed on a household means basis due to living with parents and the person is financially independent but cannot live alone due to the impact of a disability; and if he will make