Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
1049. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to extend eligibility for the fuel allowance to persons employed through the job initiative scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20371/22]
View answer1050. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated annual cost of extending eligibility for the fuel allowance to persons employed through the job initiative scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20372/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1049 and 1050 together.
The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from October to April, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. The purpose of this payment is to assist qualifying 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 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.
The estimated annual cost of extending eligibility for the fuel allowance to persons employed through the job initiative scheme would be in the region of €0.44 million. However, additional cost is not the only feature of the Deputy's proposal. Awarding the fuel allowance payment to the cohort of people referred to by the Deputy would fundamentally change the nature of the scheme. The scheme would no longer be a targeted measure, as it would be awarded irrespective of a person's or a household's means. The measure would also result in multiple payments of Fuel Allowance in households that have more than one of the cohort of people referred to by the Deputy residing in them.
Any decision to extend the qualifying criteria for Fuel Allowance in the manner outlined by the Deputy could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary and policy context and the availability of financial resources.
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.
