Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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72. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider granting a fuel allowance to those that have had an application refused or revoked due to an adult child or family member moving back home. [62019/25]

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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This is a case of déjà vu in that we mentioned this yesterday, but I want to ask the Minister of State once again if he will consider granting a fuel allowance to those who have had an application refused or revoked due to another child or family member moving back home.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. The criteria for the fuel allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources that are available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible.

To qualify for the fuel allowance payment, a person must satisfy all of the qualifying criteria, including a household composition test. This ensures that the payment is targeted at those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.

Disregarding an adult household member who is not reliant on a long-term social protection payment and who is in employment would change the targeted nature of the scheme. In practice, it would not be feasible to distinguish between households where adult children have moved back home and households where other adults have always lived.

I understand exceptional needs will arise, and this is the reason we provide additional needs payments as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. Anyone who considers they may have an entitlement to an additional needs payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare services.

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may in certain circumstances be paid to assist people who have special heating needs, such as in cases of ill health, infirmity or a medical condition.

We have extended fuel allowance eligibility to working family payment recipients this year, and it is to be paid in March and backdated to January. Once again, it is targeted at people on low incomes who are working, to support them. If there are specific cases that do not meet the criteria – I see the Deputy nodding – I will be more than happy to discuss them.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I am nodding. The Minister mentioned household composition tests and people working, but the problem I have is where a person who returns to a house is not working and is getting a social welfare payment. These are low-income households and these are the people who must be targeted. I mentioned last night that I have come across three or four cases of this in the past two weeks alone. I asked last night whether we have targeted these people. Today, the Government will announce with triumph a new housing plan, the fourth in recent years. There is a housing emergency. There are parents taking back their loved ones – their sons or daughters – under their roofs again because they have either fallen out with a partner or cannot afford rent, yet the Government is taking €38 from the fuel allowance. Many of those affected are older people who need the €38 to heat their homes. What is happening is wrong, as I have said several times. Particularly where the person coming back under the roof is in receipt of a social welfare payment and is not working, we should be considering targeting. This is the kind of targeting the Government should be employing.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I will be raising the issue the Deputy raised last night. I do not believe there is any targeting of any group. There will always be controlled measures, but I do not believe there is any specific targeting. Once again, I point out that in relation to any particular case, additional supports are available, particularly where there is an illness or disability.

We have extended fuel allowance eligibility to working family payment recipients, and that is a big change. Over 50,000 families will now become eligible for fuel loans who currently are not. We have a commitment within the programme for Government to enhance supports for lone parents. Two thirds of the recipients of the working family payment are in single adult households. I am constantly focusing on the rate of the fuel allowance and seeking to ensure it is relevant. The changes we have made in this budget will be permanent; they do not comprise a year-to-year measure, so people will be able to plan in relation to that. If there is a specific issue, I will certainly discuss the case. We do not want anybody to be cold or without fuel as a consequence of somebody in receipt of social protection coming back into their household.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I take the Minister’s reply. I acknowledge the fact that the fuel allowance has been extended to working family payment recipients, because they are in low-income families who need all the help they can get in what are housing and cost-of-living crises. I hope that if I can give the Minister three or four examples of what has been happening over the past two weeks in Kildare South, he will examine the matter again. I am sure it is not just happening in Kildare South. Maybe we are just targeting Kildare South. The affected families are genuine families. In many cases, a loved one, a son or daughter, will have left home to make a life for himself or herself but, for whatever reason, has come back under the roof again. They are in a housing emergency. Who is going to turn away their son or daughter? By putting a roof over the head of their son or daughter again, they are losing the payment.

It is causing a lot of strife and concern in families and it is hitting the lowest income families in my area. I hope the Minister, when I bring some examples to him, can look at this further.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I will certainly engage with the Deputy in that regard. We also have a commitment in the programme for Government to examine key benefits such as the fuel allowance, households benefits and the living alone allowance. That is an ongoing activity to make sure they are as relevant and targeted as possible.

The household benefits package is specifically targeted at older people. It is paid at a rate of €35 per month for 12 months of the year. I wish to ensure it is as effective as possible and people get the benefit of it.

We are also looking at how much in carbon tax revenues we can use to fund and expand measures such as this. In expanding them, however, I want to keep them targeted and focused on those who need it the most. We will work with other Departments on energy efficiency awareness, investing in the energy efficiency of housing stock and giving people a chance to do that, as well as expanding the warmer home scheme so that we can reduce long-term fuel expenditure. I have asked for an update on any control measures around fuel allowance. I am surprised at the issue raised but I will engage with the Deputy on it.