Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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81. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her Department has factored in the increase to the cost of fuel due to the national ban on smoky coal in the increases to the fuel allowance in the 2016 budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40142/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term welfare with meeting the costs of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. In order to qualify for the scheme a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment from the Department, live alone or only with one of a list of exempted persons and satisfy a means test.

In budget 2016 I announced an increase of €2.50 per week on the fuel allowance, increasing the payment to €22.50 per week from January 2016, an increase of 12.5%. This increase is expected to benefit 381,000 households who are in receipt of a long-term Social Protection payment including pensioners, people with disabilities, lone parents and jobseekers.

When deciding to increase the weekly rate of fuel allowance, consideration was given to the fact that the criteria for fuel allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department to those who are more vulnerable to energy poverty, including those reliant on Social Protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.

With regards to the national ban on smokey coal, I am informed that research indicates that smokeless fuel is in fact significantly more energy efficient than such coal.