Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1286. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of extending eligibility for the fuel allowance to all pensioners, to all in receipt of the working family payment and or a medical card; the estimated full-year cost of abolishing the waiting period of a year for those on jobseeker’s allowance and by increasing the rate by €20 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41440/22]
View answerThe Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. 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.
My Department does not hold data on persons in receipt of a medical card and are therefore unable to provide a costing for the extension of fuel allowance to this cohort.
There are approximately 671,396 pensioners in receipt of qualifying payments for fuel allowance. Of these, 166,272 are already in receipt of fuel allowance. This would give an additional 505,124 fuel allowance claims if the fuel payment was awarded to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment for fuel allowance. My Department does not hold data on household composition of all pensioner households and, therefore, fuel allowance may already be payable to another member of the household. Taking this into consideration, the estimated cost of extending eligibility for the fuel allowance to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment is as follows:
|
Weekly Rate of Fuel Allowance |
Number of weeks payable |
Number of additional Claims |
Estimated Yearly Cost |
|
€33 |
28 |
505,124 |
€466.7m |
|
€53 |
28 |
505,124 |
€749.6m |
Based on 40,300 additional recipients of the working family payment (WFP) qualifying for the fuel allowance, the estimate cost of extending the fuel allowance payment to all those in receipt of WFP is as follows:
|
Weekly Rate of Fuel Allowance |
Number of weeks payable |
Number of additional Claims |
Estimated Yearly Cost |
|
€33 |
28 |
40,300 |
€37.2m |
|
€53 |
28 |
40,300 |
€59.8m |
Because of the household and seasonal nature of the fuel allowance payment, it is difficult to provide an accurate estimate of the full-year cost of abolishing the 12 month waiting period for eligibility for the scheme for those in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance. Fuel allowance is paid to people on long term payments as they are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty. It is for this reason that the Department allocates additional payments, supports and resources to help this cohort of claimants.
However, based on an assumption of 21,261 additional recipients of jobseeker’s allowance qualifying for the fuel allowance if the waiting period of 12 months was abolished, the estimate cost of the measure is as follows:
|
Weekly Rate of Fuel Allowance |
Number of weeks payable |
Number of additional Claims |
Estimated Yearly Cost |
|
€33 |
28 |
21,261 |
€19.6m |
|
€53 |
28 |
21,261 |
€31.5m |
If the rate of fuel allowance payable was increased by €20 a week, the estimated yearly cost of the measure, including the increased numbers who would qualify if fuel allowance was extended to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment for fuel allowance, WFP and Jobseeker allowance claimants without a waiting period, is as follows:
|
Increase in Weekly Rate of Fuel Allowance |
Number of Weeks Payable |
Number of Claims |
Estimated Yearly Cost |
|
€20 |
28 |
936,685 |
€525.5m |
Any decision to extend the eligibility criteria for Fuel Allowance or to increase the weekly rate payable would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.This year, funds raised through the carbon tax will again support targeted social welfare and other initiatives to alleviate fuel poverty and ensure a just transition. In this regard, in the forthcoming budget, the Government will consider how it can support people on low incomes and those on social welfare payments who are at risk of fuel poverty. Finally, my Department provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
