Core social welfare rates to increase by €5 a week from January

The €5 increase across core social welfare rates "may not be as much as some people would like" but is certainly good news for recipients, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has said.

The increase was criticised by anti-poverty groups such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul and the European Anti-Poverty Network, who said the changes would not keep pace with the spiralling cost of living.

However, the Minister said the increase should be viewed “in the round” with other welfare payments, though added she would “of course” have liked to have delivered more.

As well as the €5 rise for adults, welfare payments in respect of qualified adults (those dependent on the main welfare recipient) will increase proportionately.

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The €5 increase will also go to young jobseekers, who in past budgets did not get the same rate of increase as they are on lower welfare rates.

Payments in respect of child dependents will increase by €2 a week for under 12s and by €3 for those aged 12 and over.

The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will increase by €10 from June. The living alone allowance, which is paid to older people living on their own, is to increase by €3 to €22 a week.

As well-flagged, core rates will increase by €5 a week from January 1st – earlier than in previous years. In addition, the fuel allowance goes up from midnight on Tuesday by €5 a week to €33. It will also be available to more people as the maximum income allowed in order to qualify, above the rate of the State pension, is increasing to €120 a week.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul welcomed the measures, but said they were “insufficient to keep people afloat in a sea of rising living costs”.

"They are still at a level that is below the poverty line and well below the cost of a minimum standard of living," the organisation's head of social justice Dr Tricia Keilthy said.

"The increase in the payment for older children falls short of the support that families need. Budget 2022 was an opportunity missed to commit to benchmarking social welfare rates to an adequate level over time."

Barnardos also welcomed the increases, but with the caveat that they would not lift the most disadvantaged children out of poverty. The children's charity's chief executive Suzanne Connolly noted the increases to the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance and the expansion of the free hot-school meals programme to an additional 16,000 children.

“However, we know that the measures only go some way to addressing the issues disadvantaged families and children face in relation to school and education, and are disappointed that voluntary contributions and school books were not addressed,” she said.

Alone, the advocacy organisation for older people, described the package as a "missed opportunity to make Ireland a country fairer for old and young".

It said the €5 State pension increase “still leaves it €33.18 below the poverty line. It does not deliver on the Government’s commitment to benchmark the State pension at 34 per cent of average weekly earnings”.

Ms Humphreys reiterated several times at a department press briefing that the €5 increases, especially for older people, came in alongside increases in the fuel allowance and the living alone allowance.

For a single pensioner, she said, these would amount to €13 a week more to their households. “But of course we want to do more and we will continue to look at that.”