Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am also increasing the annual respite care grant by €300 to €1,500. We are increasing the back to school clothing and footwear allowance to €180 and €285. We are increasing the free fuel allowance to €18 per week and increasing the income threshold for eligibility to €100 per week. This means we will have doubled this allowance in the past two years.

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