The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents.
Under the scheme, my Department may award an Additional Needs Payment, which is an overarching term for Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments and certain supplements to assist with on going or recurring costs that cannot be met from the person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary. This can include a heating supplement where a person has need for additional heating due to ill health or infirmity. Heating supplement is not restricted to the fuel season and can be paid throughout the year.
Heating supplements are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme. All the relevant circumstances of the case are taken into account in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.
Table 1 below show the number of heating supplement recipients at the end of each month for January 2021 to August 2022.
The expenditure on heating supplement is provided for under the heading of “other supplements” which also include supplements such as travel. The value of each monthly payment amount is not available. Supplements may be paid on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly basis, and the payment amount will have a wide range depending on the circumstances of the customer.
The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which supported over 370,000 households in the 2021-2022 fuel season.
In January 2022, at a mid point in the fuel season, which began on 21 September 2021, there were 963 people in receipt of a heating supplement; 833 of those recipients were also in receipt of a fuel allowance and 130 people in receipt of a heating supplement who were not in receipt of a fuel allowance.
Payment of a supplement may be nominated to a supplier of goods or services with the permission of the customer. As at the end of August 2022, two heat supplement claims were nominated to an energy or fuel supplier.
In addition, my Department also provides payments where appropriate to people who face difficulties in meeting exceptional fuel bills. In 2021, over 2,300 exceptional needs payments totalling almost €750,000 were made to assist with household bills and heating costs.
Anyone who struggles with heating costs is entitled to make an application for a payment under the schemes. I would encourage them to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Table 1: Total number of heating supplement recipients at the end of each month for January 2021 to August 2022
|
Month (end of)
|
Total Number of Recipients
|
|
Jan-21
|
1,086
|
|
Feb-21
|
1,074
|
|
Mar-21
|
1,057
|
|
Apr-21
|
1,039
|
|
May-21
|
1,027
|
|
Jun-21
|
1,016
|
|
Jul-21
|
1,012
|
|
Aug-21
|
1,004
|
|
Sep-21
|
991
|
|
Oct-21
|
982
|
|
Nov-21
|
976
|
|
Dec-21
|
977
|
|
Jan-22
|
969
|
|
Feb-22
|
959
|
|
Mar-22
|
961
|
|
Apr-22
|
946
|
|
May-22
|
946
|
|
Jun-22
|
946
|
|
Jul-22
|
950
|
|
Aug-22
|
946
|
