Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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519. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider providing assistance to a specific group of pensioners (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9433/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has a unified system of social security whereby all contributions paid by workers (and their employers, where applicable) are paid into a single fund, the Social Insurance Fund (SIF), from which various benefits are paid to those withe established entitlement.

The Irish social welfare system recognises different categories or “Classes” of workers. The rate of contribution paid by these categories differs. They can therefore access different levels of social insurance benefits. For example, Class A employees, generally private sector employees and post 6 April 1995 public servants, pay a combined employer and employee PRSI rate and qualify for all social insurance benefits. In contrast, Class B public sector employees pay a much lower combined PRSI rate. Consequently, they qualify for a restricted range of social insurance benefits. They do not qualify for the State pension (contributory), relying instead on their occupational pensions.

The State Pension (Contributory) is a social insurance payment for people aged 66 or over, who satisfy certain social insurance contribution conditions. The purpose of the State Pension (Non-Contributory) which is a means tested payment, is to ensure those individuals with limited or no income or assets receive the most support from the State.

Primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition, my Department also provides a range of other payments, both cash and non-cash, on a weekly, monthly, or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary in nature.

The Living Alone Increase (LAI) is one of those secondary payments. It is not a scheme or a stand-alone payment, but rather it is a supplement to a social welfare payment to people aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone.

The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed to direct the limited resources available to the Department in as targeted a manner as possible, and so it is focused on recipients of long-term social protection payments where an applicant satisfies a means test. People in receipt of such long-term supports are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty.

The Government is acutely aware of the increase in consumer prices in recent months, especially the increase in fuel and other energy prices. To help mitigate the effects of these rising costs, the Government has announced additional expenditure measures to a total of €505 million which will make a positive impact on the incomes of all households in our country.

Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Exceptional Needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which customers are unable to meet from their own resources. Decisions on such payments are made on a case-by-case basis.

Any decision to allow those in receipt of occupational pensions who are not in receipt of a qualifying payment to receive the fuel allowance or the living alone increase would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.