Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kerrane. The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of supports, energy efficiency awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock.

With regard to income supports, my Department provides a range of schemes to assist with energy costs. These include the fuel allowance, which is a payment of €24.50 per week for 28 weeks from October to April, giving a total of €686 per annum. It cost in the region of €261.35 million in 2020 for payments to an average of some 352,000 low-income households. Payments for the 2020–21 fuel season will start to issue under this scheme next week. Also included are electricity or gas allowances under the household benefits scheme, at an estimated cost of €194 million in 2020; a special heating supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme; and exceptional needs payments, to help meet an essential once-off cost that an applicant is unable to meet out of his or her own resources. Owing to the Covid-19 emergency, the fuel allowance 2019–20 season was extended by four weeks from 10 April to 8 May 2020 to help protect the vulnerable during the lockdown phase of the national response.

As committed to in the programme for Government, the ESRI is carrying out a study on how best to minimise fuel poverty in the context of carbon tax commitments. The programme for Government has committed to hypothecating all additional funds raised by the carbon tax into a climate action fund, which will be utilised, in part, to provide for targeted social welfare initiatives to prevent fuel poverty and ensure a just transition. This was done in the last budget when €21 million was ring-fenced from the approximately €90 million being raised from the carbon tax increase to fund an additional €2 per week in the fuel allowance and to add an additional €13 million to the warmer homes scheme allocation. It is made available to retrofit the homes of people in or at risk of energy poverty.

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