Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the changes she will make to the way the household benefits package to allow for the equitable treatment of people with oil fired central heating. [39552/08]

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 payments or carer's allowance. The package includes the electricity and gas allowance, telephone allowance and free television licence schemes. There are currently 355,000 people in receipt of household benefits at an annual cost of €317 million.

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.

There are no plans at present to amend the household benefits to include an allowance for oil based heating. However, I will continue to review the operation of the scheme with a view to identifying the scope for further improvements as resources permit.