Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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967.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of recipients of an increase for a qualified adult, by gender; and the reason this payment has not been increased in line with inflation.[34722/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A qualified adult is the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the recipient of the payment who is being wholly or mainly maintained by that person. Claimants with a qualified adult partner are recognised within the social welfare system as having additional needs because their spouse/partner is financially dependent on them. The payment of an Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA), in addition to the personal rate of payment, reflects these additional household needs.

The IQA rate is paid at approximately 66% of the personal rate on the relevant scheme.

For working-age payments where the maximum personal rate is €232 per week, such as Disability Allowance and jobseeker payments, the Increase for IQA is €154.

For those on the maximum personal rate of State Pension (Contributory) of €277.30, with a Qualified Adult aged over 66, the IQA rate is €248.60. As part of the Budget 2024 package, I increased personal weekly payment rates by €12 per week and those with a Qualified Adult saw an additional proportional increase.

Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) research has found that the minimum needs of the adults in a household headed by a couple cost 1.5 times (rather than twice) that of an equivalent household with children headed by one adult. This finding was backed up by similar research in other countries that have carried out research into minimum budget standards.

I am considering a wide range of options for Budget 2025, taking account of available resources and the need to protect the most vulnerable in society. Any changes to the proportionate rates of payments for qualified adults would need to be considered in an overall budgetary and policy context.

The table below shows the number of recipients of an increase for a qualified adult, by gender.