Social Welfare Payments

Thursday, 18 May 2023

Questions (365)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

365. 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 cost of abolishing the waiting period of a year for those on JSA, and by increasing the rate by €20 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23792/23]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023 and received by approximately 404,256 households at the end of the Fuel Season. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.

My Department does not hold data on persons in receipt of a medical card and is therefore unable to provide a costing for the extension of fuel allowance to this cohort.

There are approximately 674,685 pensioners in receipt of qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance. Of these, 191,771 are already in receipt of fuel allowance. This would give an additional 482,914 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 Additional Yearly Cost
€33	28	482,914	€446.2m
€53	28	482,914	€716.6m

Based on 41,761 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 Additional Yearly Cost
€33	28	41,761	€38.6m
€53	28	41,761	€62m

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 jobseekers 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 20,938 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 Additional Yearly Cost
€33	28	20,938	€19.3m
€53	28	20,938	€31.1m

If the rate of Fuel Allowance payable was increased by €20 a week, the estimated yearly cost of the measure for those currently in receipt of the Fuel Allowance on the one hand, and, on the other hand, 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 jobseekers allowance claimants without a waiting period, is as follows: -

Increase in Weekly Rate of Fuel Allowance	Number of weeks payable	Number of additional Claims	Estimated Additional Yearly Cost
€20	28	404,256	€226.4m
€20	28	545,613	€305.5m
Total		949,869	€531.9m

The estimated combined additional yearly cost of the measures set out by the Deputy would likely be in excess of €1 billion .

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.