Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The Department of Social Protection already assists low income households with heating costs through their basic payments, through the fuel allowance scheme and through the household benefits package of electricity and gas allowances. These schemes have been improved significantly in recent years. Since 2001, increases in social welfare rates, including fuel allowance, have exceeded energy product prices.

The fuel allowance is paid for 32 weeks each year from end September to end April. In the 2009-10 heating season more than 340,000 recipients benefited from the allowance at a cost of over €231 million. Some 376,000 pensioners are receiving the household benefits, which provides 2,400 electricity units per annum, or the gas equivalent, over the year and it is estimated that some 140,000 of these households are receiving both fuel allowance and the electricity units-gas allowance under the household benefits to assist with the heating and other energy requirements. The household benefit package cost €184 million in 2009.

Proper household insulation is absolutely vital in tackling fuel poverty. Initiatives such as the warmer homes scheme, operated by Sustainable Energy Ireland, under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources have a very valuable role to play in that regard, as does funding from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to improve the quality of existing local authority housing and the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities. Considerable progress has been made in this area in recent years.

In his carbon budget statement, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government outlined details of €130 million in funding for insulation, €76 million of which will be used to assist low income families. The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has overarching responsibility for the energy portfolio and has convened an interdepartmental agency group on affordable energy to co-ordinate and drive Government policy in this area.

The interdepartmental agency group has been asked to draw up an energy affordability strategy. This strategy will set out existing and future approaches to addressing energy affordability and will have regard both to the impact of the carbon tax on low income households and the range of supports outlined above in making its recommendations. As part of its work, the group was asked to make recommendations on the precise package of measures, including in the area of income support, that should be put in place to assist those at risk of fuel poverty. These recommendations will be considered as part of the overall strategy to deal with energy affordability.

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