Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2022
569. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will reconsider the time period for which the fuel allowance is granted; and if the allowance will be extended by a minimum of one month given the ongoing fuel crisis in Ireland. [15080/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is an important measure that assists pensioners and other recipients of long term social protection schemes to address income deficiency, especially during the winter. The duration of the scheme is designed to coincide with the coldest periods of the year and it is for this reason the scheme runs from October to mid-April. Any proposal to change this could only be considered while taking account of overall Government policy and in the overall budgetary context.
To help mitigate the effects of rising costs, the Government has recently announced additional expenditure measures to a total value of over half a billion euro which will make a positive impact on the incomes of all households in our country.
As part of these measures, I was pleased to announce an additional lump sum payment of €125 that was paid to all households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance payment. It is expected that this additional lump sum will cost an estimated €49 million.
This payment in addition to the Budget increase will mean low-income households will see an increase of 41% in this Fuel Allowance season compared to last season.
Other significant measures announced by the Government include the Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Payment which will see approximately 2.1m households benefit by €200 each from the new scheme.
The combined worth of the Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Payment and the additional fuel lump sum payment is €325 or the equivalent of just under 10 weeks' additional Fuel Allowance at current rates.
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, my Department also provides Exceptional Needs Payments which may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources, and this may include exceptional heating costs. Decisions on such payments are made on a case-by-case basis.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
