Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 15, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “(3) The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the inclusion of all half-rate carer’s allowance recipients under the fuel allowance scheme.”.

This, too, is an issue that I raised on Second Stage. I tabled the amendment on foot of the experience of a constituent of mine and Deputy Kerrane's with whom I am personally dealing at the moment. The husband of the constituent in question is in receipt of a contributory State pension. She is getting the qualified adult allowance and the half-rate carer's allowance. That is the only income going into that household. The difficulty is that under the fuel allowance scheme as currently drafted, the half-rate carer's allowance is considered income. If this woman's husband had not paid PRSI and, as such, was in receipt of the non-contributory State pension, and she was receiving the qualified adult allowance and the half-rate carer's allowance, they would be entitled to the full fuel allowance. On top of that, she could actually go out and earn up to €120 a week and still get the fuel allowance. People who paid PRSI are significantly worse off due to this anomaly whereby the half-rate carer's allowance is considered income under a contributory pension but not under a non-contributory pension in the context of eligibility for the fuel allowance. It is an anomaly in the system. It is discriminating against this couple with no income other than what is coming in from the Minister's Department. They have no supplementary income but they are in receipt of the half-rate carer's allowance, which is considered income. If it is not considered income under the non-contributory State pension, a similar situation should pertain under the contributory State pension. The half-rate carer's allowance should not be considered as income in that context. That would ensure the couple would receive the fuel allowance just like everyone else. There is probably only a relatively small number of people affected by this anomaly. I do not think there is a big cost involved. I ask the Minister to consider addressing this anomaly in the context of the Bill before the House.

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