Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A social welfare Bill is not required to bring a social welfare package through the House. We have seen that with respect to taxation and we saw it on several occasions with respect to Covid-19. I already mentioned the free fuel allowance. The scheme was extended by a number of weeks, which was worth more than €1,000 to the 390,000 people who are in receipt of that payment. That is a high figure and the people who benefited are the most vulnerable in the country. It is a fuel allowance. Since its inception, it was never meant to cover the entire cost of fuel. It is an allowance towards the cost of fuel. It was never intended to cover 100% of the cost of fuel. However, that figure is substantial.

I accept that people could do with more assistance and that is why everybody got the €200 energy credit, including people availing of social protection, low-paid workers and those on minimum wage. An additional lump sum of €125 for the fuel allowance will be paid to those 390,000 participants. People who have a free travel card have the benefit of that. A 20% reduction in many public transport fares will come in at the end of this month. The maximum amount that people who avail of the drugs payment scheme must pay has reduced from €144 per month to €80 per month, which is affecting 70,000 families.

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