Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:427. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans for jobs initiative scheme participants be included in the winter fuel scheme (details supplied.) [47466/21]
View answerTuesday, 5 October 2021
Questions (427)
Written answers
The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €28.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €784 each year) from October to April, to over 370,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household.
The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to the Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for fuel a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and satisfy all relevant qualifying conditions.
The Job Initiative Scheme programme provided full-time employment for people 35 years of age or over, who had been unemployed for 5 years or more. Since November 2004, there has been no recruitment to the Scheme. Since January 2004 participants on the Job Initiative Scheme could no longer retain their entitlement to Fuel Allowance while participating on the scheme. This decision was taken as the minimum rate of payment to participants on the scheme was significantly higher than the rate of qualifying Social Welfare payments.
The minimum rate of payment to a Job Initiative participant is still significantly higher than most Social Welfare primary payments, including payments such as Illness Benefit and Jobseeker's Benefit, which are also non qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance. Participants on the Job Initiative Scheme are also considered to be in full time employment and not in receipt of a Social Welfare support payment.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances. Exceptional needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet from his / her own resources.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.