Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 and 128 together.

The national fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive, HSE, payments to meet the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowance is paid for 30 weeks from end-September to end-April. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating expenses. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. A total of 290,000 people, 170,000 with basic fuel allowance and 120,000 with smokeless fuel supplement, will benefit under the scheme at a cost of more than €170 million in 2008.

Fuel allowance is incorporated into a person's weekly social welfare payment. That reflects the objective that total weekly income, including the fuel allowance, is sufficient to meet all of a person's income needs, including heating costs. The main role of the social welfare system is to provide income supports. Government policy in recent years has focused on significantly increasing primary social welfare rates to ensure that people on social welfare can meet their basic living costs, including heating, throughout the year and to achieve an improvement in quality of life. That is a more costly approach than increasing fuel allowance, as the increase is paid for the full year and not just for the 30 weeks of the winter heating season. Social welfare rates have increased at a significantly greater rate than price inflation in recent years. Since December 2001, overall inflation has increased by over 27% while energy product prices have increased by 65%. However, increases in social welfare payments, including fuel allowance, have been between 71% and 88% in the same period.

In addition to primary payments and fuel allowance, electricity and gas allowances under the household benefits package, are payable throughout the year to more than 355,000 pensioners, people with disabilities, and carer households towards their heating, light and cooking costs at an estimated overall scheme cost of €159 million in 2008. A special heating needs facility is also available through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme to assist people in certain circumstances with specific heating needs due to infirmity or a particular medical condition.

Fuel poverty is the inability to afford adequate warmth in a home, or the inability to achieve adequate warmth because of the energy inefficiency of the home. The Department is working with all other Departments both in doing research and on various projects to see how the less well-off in society can be supported.

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