Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022
101. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Social Protection the way it is proposed to promote the new income limit for the fuel allowance scheme to ensure that those who are eligible take it up and have the opportunity to also get a home heating upgrade free of charge. [5362/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 over a full fuel season) from October to April, to 375,000 low-income households, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. 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.
My colleague, Minister Ryan, the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications has the role of reducing energy poverty by implementing measures to improve the energy efficiencies of Irish homes under a number of schemes and I'm certain the Minister, his Department and relevant agencies under its aegis will be able to provide a range of information resources on these initiatives.
In Budget 2022 the Government increased the weekly means threshold for the fuel allowance scheme by €20 to €120 above the appropriate rate of contributory State pension representing a 20% increase in the threshold which enables more people to qualify for this support. This measure, along with other Budget measures, was widely promoted at Budget time by many media outlets, as well as on Gov.ie and Citizensinformation.ie. Detailed guidelines on the qualifying criteria for fuel allowance are, of course, available online on the Gov.ie website. My Department also issued press releases at Budget time which included details of the increased means threshold for fuel allowance.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
