Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 445: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will be approved the fuel allowance and the living alone allowance. [31921/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned has made an application for payment of living alone allowance and fuel allowance. To qualify for living alone allowance a person must be living alone, satisfy age criteria and be in receipt of certain social welfare payments from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, of which Disability allowance is one such payment. The person concerned applied for Disability Allowance on 11 December 2007. She satisfies the means criteria for award of disability allowance; however she was examined by a Medical Assessor from the Department who deemed that she was not medically suitable for Disability Allowance. She was advised of this decision and of her right of appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office, on 22 July 2008.

As the person concerned is not in receipt of a social welfare payment from the Department of Social and Family Affairs she is not entitled to payment of living alone allowance. To qualify for payment of fuel allowance a person must satisfy a number of conditions:

be in receipt of a qualifying payment;

live alone or live only with certain persons; and

he or she or other members of their household must be unable to provide for their heating needs from their own resources.

People who reside in Ireland and who are in receipt of a pension or benefit or equivalent payment from a country covered by EU Regulations, or with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, may qualify for payment of fuel allowance. As the person concerned has a Belgian social security pension, and satisfies the other relevant conditions, she has been awarded fuel allowance. The Department will notify her directly of this decision.