Conor D. McGuinness
Question:736. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost in 2027 if the living alone allowance increased to €28.50 per week. [38792/26]
View answerTuesday, 26 May 2026
Questions (736)
Written answers
Primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to these primary payments, my Department also provides a range of other payments on a weekly, monthly, or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary in nature with each of them having their own individual qualifying criteria.
The Living Alone Increase (LAI) is one of those secondary payments. It is not a scheme or a stand-alone payment, but it is a supplement to a primary social protection payment of €22 per week made to people aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone.
For those aged 66 or over, payments eligible for the LAI include State Pension (Contributory), State Pension (Non-contributory), Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, Bereaved Partner's Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme, Incapacity Supplement under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme and Deserted Wife's Benefit. LAI is also paid to people aged under 66 who live alone and are in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement or Blind Pension.
At the end of April 2026 there were 258,561 recipients of the Living Alone Increase. Based on that number, an increase of €6.50 per week, bringing the rate of payment to €28.50, would cost an estimated additional €87.39 million for the year 2027.
These figures are based on the number of recipients at the end of April 2026 and do not include projected increases in the number of recipients in future years.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.