Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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251. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full year cost of extending the fuel allowance to those persons in receipt of illness benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15346/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to 378,000 low income households to assist them 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.

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. This information, required to assess eligibility, is not collected from Illness Benefit claimants, and so it is not possible to say what percentage of them would qualify for fuel allowance if eligibility was extended. Any decision to so extend the eligibility criteria for fuel allowance would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme a recipient of a social welfare or health service executive payment who has exceptional essential heating costs due to ill health or infirmity and who cannot provide for such costs from within his or her own resources may qualify for a heating supplement. There is no standard rate for a heating supplement. Each case is examined on its merits and the Community Welfare Officer determines the amount to be paid taking account of the level of the expenses in question and the ability of the applicant to contribute towards his or her exceptional heating costs.

The best way to tackle fuel poverty in the long term is to improve the energy efficiency of the dwelling. My Department works closely with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment on these issues and in moving forward the actions agreed in the Energy Affordability Strategy. In that regard, the Better Energy Homes scheme provides support towards the installation of attic and wall insulation, and heating system upgrades.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.