Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the changes she will make to the household benefits package to allow for the equitable treatment of people with oil-fired central heating. [34869/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The household benefits package is generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. It is also available to people aged under 66 who are in receipt of certain disability social welfare payments or carer's allowance. The package includes the electricity and gas allowance, telephone allowance and free television licence schemes.

Some 358,000 pensioner and other households qualify for electricity and gas allowances through the household benefits package. These allowances help with heating, light and cooking costs throughout the year. The electricity allowance element of the household benefits package is paid as a credit on the person's electricity bill. The natural gas allowance is an alternative to the electricity allowance for people whose homes are connected to a natural gas supply. People can choose to have the allowance applied to either their electricity or their gas bill, whichever is most beneficial to them.

In recent years there have been significant improvements to the value of these allowances. In January 2007 the number of units covered by the electricity allowance was increased from 1,200 to 2,400 units. A corresponding increase in the value of the gas allowance had been implemented in the previous October.

From 1 August 2008 the value of the electricity allowance per household increased from €465 to €540 per annum in line with electricity price increases, based on urban rates. In order to continue to maintain the value of the electricity and gas allowances at the same level, the value of the gas allowance was also increased to €540 per annum from the same date. I increased the value of the allowances in order to match recent price increases to ensure that customers continue to receive the same amount of energy under the household benefit scheme.

This represents increased expenditure on these schemes of some €11 million for the remainder of the year bringing the total expenditure on the schemes to approximately €170 million this year.

The national fuel allowance scheme also provides assistance to householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive payments with meeting the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating expenses. It is not intended to meet those costs in full.

In Budget 2009 I was pleased to be able to increase the value of the fuel allowance by €2 per week to €20 per week from January 2009 with an additional €3.90 per week paid to those in smokeless fuel areas. In addition, I was happy to extend the duration of the scheme by two weeks so that the fuel allowance will now be paid for 32 weeks a year.

Fuel allowances are incorporated in the recipient's weekly social welfare payment. This reflects the objective that the total weekly income of benefit and assistance recipients, including the fuel allowance, is sufficient to meet all of their income needs, including heating costs.

It is estimated that almost 300,000 people will benefit under the scheme in 2008 at a cost over €170 million.

As with all schemes, I will be keeping the household benefits and fuel allowance schemes under review to ensure that they continue to meet their objectives.