Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 September 2020
748. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of recipients and the level of funding in the past five years paid to recipients of the fuel allowance in tabular form; the number of families the fuel allowance has supported; his planned changes to take account of the increased cost of energy for families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22311/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraFuel Allowance is a seasonal payment for 28 weeks, from October to April, to help low income households with their heating costs. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. Fuel allowance expenditure and recipient numbers for the past 5 years are:
|
Year |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
|
Cost €m |
261.35 (est) |
239,752(est) |
240,203 |
229,003 |
234,812 |
|
No of recipients |
367,362(May 20) |
369,255 |
380,463 |
370,631 |
379,406 |
Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances that have special heating needs. Exceptional needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of their own resources. In addition, my Department also pays an electricity or gas allowance under the household benefits scheme at an estimated cost of €194 million in 2020.
The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of supports, investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock, and energy efficiency awareness initiatives.
In Budget 2020, the Fuel Allowance payment was increased by €2 to €24.50 per week. This is an increase of just under 9% and will increase the annual Fuel Allowance payment from €630 to €686, a €56 yearly increase. The annual cost of this increase in Fuel Allowance is €21m. This cost has been funded via a ring-fenced allocation from the circa €90m which will be raised from the Carbon Tax increase. This is the largest single allocation and is directly aimed at protecting the most vulnerable.
Income support is only part of the answer in terms of addressing energy costs. One of the best ways to tackle energy costs in the long term is to improve the energy efficiency of the dwelling through proper building and household insulation. In this regard it was also announced in Budget 2020 that a total of €52.8 million is being made available to retrofit the homes of people living in or at risk of energy poverty through the Warmer Homes Scheme. This represents the biggest ever allocation for the Warmer Homes Scheme – more than double the initial allocation for 2019. €13 million of this funding is ring-fenced revenue arising from the increase in the carbon tax. This reduces the energy required to adequately heat a home, thus reducing a household’s exposure to increases in energy costs.
In terms of the forthcoming budget, the Government will consider how it can support people on low incomes and those on social welfare payments. The Deputy will be aware that in the context of carbon tax, one of the key pillars of the Government's response is to provide for an avoidance of fuel poverty and to provide allowances,from the funds that would be generated, to enable people to deal with the impact of increased expenditure that they have to incur in their daily lives.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
