Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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208. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to outline his plans to extend the fuel allowance scheme to illness benefit scheme recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32661/16]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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209. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of extending the fuel allowance scheme to illness benefit recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32662/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 208 and 209 together.

The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households. It was paid to 390,958 recipients in 2015. The estimated cost of the scheme in 2016 is €224 million. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. 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. My Department also pays an electricity or gas allowance as part of the household benefits package to approx. 421,000 customers, at an estimated cost of €228 million in 2016.

The fuel allowance is a means tested payment, targeted at 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. As short term payments such as illness benefits are not means tested payments, they do not qualify for the fuel allowance.

A person who has been in receipt of illness benefit for at least 12 months and who most likely will be incapable of work for at least another 12 months, or who may be permanently incapable of work, may apply for invalidity pension which is a qualifying payment for fuel allowance and the household benefits package.

The information sought by the Deputy on the estimated cost of extending the fuel allowance scheme to illness benefit recipients is not readily available to my Department as there are a number of qualifying conditions for receipt of fuel allowance. In addition to being in receipt of a qualifying payment a person must live alone or only with certain excepted people and also be unable to meet the costs of heating their home.

Any decision to extend the eligibility criteria for fuel allowance to include persons in receipt of illness benefit would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.