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

If the Senator does not press the amendment, I will agree to do this report. Fuel allowance is paid to social welfare recipients such as pensioners, people with disabilities, lone parents and long-term unemployed people in recognition of their long-term financial dependence on their social welfare payment for all or most of their income. People on long-term payments are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty. It is for this reason the Department allocates additional payments, supports and resources such as fuel allowance to this group of people.

The working family payment is a weekly, tax-free payment available to employees with children. It gives extra financial support to families with children, with rates depending on their incomes and family size. It is not considered a long-term social protection payment. Recipients are in employment and are more likely to have additional resources. A person in receipt of the working family payment can continue to receive the payment for 52 weeks even if their income increases. The payment is set and continues at that rate. While, in general, a household in receipt of working family payment is not eligible for the fuel allowance payment, this is not the case when a person is in receipt of the one-parent family payment and the working family payment together. A lone parent who is in receipt of both of those payments can qualify for and receive the fuel allowance payment.

As part of the overall social welfare budget 2023 package of €2.2 billion, I was pleased to announce a few measures with regard to the working family payment. In November 2022, people receiving the working family payment received a lump sum payment of €500. In January 2023, the working family payment income limits will increase by €40 across all family sizes. Research from the Economic and Social Research Institute has shown that this is the single most important social protection measure the Government can take to alleviate poverty. I think the House will agree that the Government has clearly focused on the working family payment in this budget. That said, a report on this is timely and I will arrange to do that.