Over 60,000 older people could be lifted out of poverty with the right Budget choices, ALONE says
“Overwhelming and all–consuming” older people describe the reality of rising costs in ALONE’s cost of living survey
24th June 2026: ALONE, the national organisation supporting older people to age well at home, today published its Pre-Budget Submission 2027, setting out a series of evidence-based, costed proposals to address the growing crisis of poverty, loneliness, and inadequate support facing Ireland’s rapidly ageing population.
The submission reveals older people living alone are the group most likely to be living below the poverty line in Ireland, and that an older person living alone receiving every available State support – the full contributory pension, Living Alone Allowance, Fuel Allowance, Telephone Support Allowance, and Household Benefits Package – still falls €14.20 below this line each week. For those without a contributory pension, the gap widens to more than €25 per week.
ALONE is calling on Government to deliver a balanced package that could lift over 60,000 older people out of poverty and prevent 20,000 more from falling into it.
ALONE’s annual Cost of Living Survey revealed more than half of older people reported difficulty paying their bills, and almost half said they had gone cold to save on energy costs. 75% reported having been impacted by the cost of living, up sharply from 44% in 2025. Many older people described cutting down on food to afford adequate heating, selling their car and running out of savings. One older person described how: “The rising cost of electricity and food and lack of transport makes it very difficult. I go without the basics daily”
Seán Moynihan, CEO of ALONE, said: “The data are stark, but it is not surprising to anyone working with older people every day. Budget 2027 must fix the foundations: the Living Alone Allowance, the Fuel Allowance, and the Household Benefits Package have all gone too long without meaningful increases. We are calling on Government to treat poverty in later life as the urgent, solvable problem it is.”
ALONE is calling for decisive investment in the supports that keep older people well and living at home, including a falls prevention programme and a coordinated national response to loneliness, alongside long-term investment in social housing. These investments reduce reliance on acute health services, prevent delayed discharges and reduce the need for more expensive long-term care.
ALONE’s asks for Budget 2027 fall into three areas: targeted supports for those most at risk, preventative investments that reduce long-term costs to the State, and universal measures that benefit all older people:
Targeted Supports (For Those Most at Risk)
- An increase of at least €15 per week to the Living Alone Allowance, with a commitment to benchmarking to ensure it keeps pace with the real costs of living alone
- An increase of at least €10 per week to the Fuel Allowance and a permanent four-week extension to the Fuel Allowance season, restoring it to 32 weeks
- An increase of at least €15 per month to the Household Benefits Package, with indexation linked to energy inflation
Preventative Investment (Long Term Impact)
- €3.3m for falls prevention through community exercise programmes
- €1.35m for a national action plan to tackle loneliness and isolation
- €10.6m to improve identification and intervention in cases of malnutrition among older people
- Investment of €292m to build 980 universal design social housing units for older adults
- Agree and begin delivery of a national Housing with Support Model, providing cost effective alternative to long term residential care
- Expansion of the free retrofitting scheme to include all older people (€21.4m)
General Supports (Universal Measures)
- An increase in €15 per week to the State Pension, with a clear pathway to benchmarking
- The creation of a Commissioner for Ageing and Older People (€1.2m in year one)
The full pre-budget submission is available here
A summary document is available here
