To ask the Minister for Communities whether any assessment has been made of the number of households who fall just above eligibility thresholds for income related benefits but are nonetheless experiencing financial challenges due to rising living costs.

My Department does not hold specific information on households who fall just above eligibility thresholds for income related benefits who are experiencing hardship due to rising living costs.

My Department publishes the Northern Ireland Poverty and Income Inequality Report, which presents annual estimates of the proportion of people, children, working-age adults and pensioners in Northern Ireland living in poverty, as well as other statistics on household income and income inequality.

This report uses data from the Northern Ireland Family Resources Survey and includes a range of low-income poverty indicators including relative poverty, absolute poverty, and combined low income and material deprivation.