Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a person on jobbridge who applies for the fuel allowance does not have the required 390 days on jobseeker's to qualify, if he will allow for the shortfall in days to come from the length of time a person has spent on jobbridge so as to allow these applicants qualify; his views on whether there is discrimination against all applicants in this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46739/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department will spend almost €215 million in 2012 on the fuel allowance scheme benefitting some 400,000 people. In 2005 there were 265,000 on the fuel allowance at a cost of €82 million. The cost of the scheme has risen by over 160% in seven years. The current fuel season commenced in October this year and will run for 26 weeks until April 2013. I have no plans to amend the guidelines to allow the time spent on jobbridge to count towards the accrual of time for eligibility for the fuel allowance.

An intern participating in jobbridge will continue to receive the social welfare entitlements, including secondary entitlements such as fuel allowance, that they were receiving immediately prior to commencing the scheme. However, during their jobbridge internship, interns will not receive additional benefits, such as fuel allowance, if they were previously not entitled to this benefit before they began their internship. The objective of the jobbridge scheme is to keep unemployed people close to the labour market and to give them the opportunity to gain quality work experience thereby increasing their employability.