Pat Cox
Question:33 Mr. Cox asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of old age pensioners in receipt of living alone allowance for each of the years from 1990 to 1992.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The living alone allowance is a payment made to elderly people aged 66 and over. As well as old age pension recipients, the payment is made to recipients of other social welfare payments such as widows and invalidity pensioners who are aged 66 and over and who live alone. In 1990 there were 87,209 recipients of this allowance of which 55,269 were old age pensioners. This figure increased to 89,114 in 1991 when 55,758 of recipients were old age pensioners. In 1992 the total number of recipients of the allowance was 91,370 of which 56,890 were old age pensioners.
Bernard Allen
Question:34 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will review current legislation which prevents tenants and flat dwellers who have central heating from applying for a fuel grant under the national fuel scheme.
Austin Deasy
Question:40 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will examine the anomaly whereby a person (details supplied) in County Waterford, who is unwell and on disability benefit for the past two years living on his own has been refused the free fuel allowance, whereas an able bodied person on unemployment assistance can avail of this allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
John Browne
Question:43 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he has any plans to increase the £5 fuel allowance in view of the fact that it has been at that rate for a number of years.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 34, 40 and 43 together.
The national fuel scheme is intended to help households who are dependent on long term social welfare or health board payments and who are unable to provide for their own heating needs.
A payment of £5 per week is payable to eligible households from mid-October to mid-April. An additional £3 per week is paid in the Dublin area because of the higher cost of smokeless fuel. People residing in local authority accommodation, where central heating is already supplied at a subsidised level, do not qualify for a fuel allowance under the scheme.
The fuel allowance applies to people on long term payments. Disability benefit is a short term payment and is not a qualifying payment under the national fuel scheme. However, if the health board is satisfied that because of the nature of the illness, additional heating is required, in a particular case, a special payment could be made for this purpose under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.
Increases in the overall level of the fuel allowance or extension of the payment to other categories of clients would have significant financial implications. For example, an increase of £1 in the level of the fuel allowance would cost almost £9 million in a full heating season. Such changes could be considered only in a budgetary context.