I propose to take Questions Nos. 339 and 357 together.
Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. It is a targeted payment to people dependent on specified long-term social welfare payments. The purpose of this payment is to assist those households most in need with their energy costs.
Taking account of the fact that the Fuel Allowance is a household-based payment and that qualification is not just based on the means test but on a number of other complex qualifying criteria such as household composition, it is not possible for my Department to provide an accurate projection of the potential cost of the measures outlined by the Deputy. My Department also does not maintain records across all schemes of the amount by which unsuccessful fuel applicants are over the income threshold. It is also worth noting that many people above the existing income threshold do not make an application.
The number of additional people that qualified for fuel allowance following the €20 weekly means threshold increase in Budget 2022 is not available yet as the Department collates data on an annual basis. When the change in means threshold for the scheme was introduced, it was estimated that up to 4,500 additional households could qualify for the payment. It should be noted that due to changes in circumstances, the number of qualifying recipients at any one time fluctuates on an ongoing basis.
The provision of any additional supports such as further increasing the allowable means for Fuel Allowance purposes would have cost implications and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
