Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I also want to raise a pension-related issue, namely, the plight of pensioners and low income households in this country who are facing a double whammy this weekend. People will lose their fuel allowance as the winter scheme will come to an end at the end of April. However, the cost of heating oil will increase as a result of the introduction of the carbon levy. When the Minister for Finance announced the budget last year, he introduced a carbon levy which is coming into effect on Saturday, 1 May 2010 in respect of heating oil. It will increase the price of heating oil by 8.7%.

When the Minister introduced the budget, he promised that a vouched system of fuel allowances would be introduced for low income families who were affected by the introduction of the carbon levy. My colleague, Deputy Shortall, has been pursuing the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, and his predecessor about this issue for the past six months. During that time the Government has not done anything to introduce the allowance. There are 300,000 households in this country who will be affected by this next Saturday. The increase of 8.7% in their heating oil bill, coming on top of the increase in the price of oil of 37% over the course of the past year, means that the total increase for low income households which are dependent on home heating oil will be 45%.

The levy is due to be introduced next Saturday. Will the Taoiseach introduce the allowance, as was promised in the budget, or will he postpone the introduction of the carbon levy on heating oil until such time as the allowance is introduced to protect low income families from the effect of the carbon levy?

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