Written answers

Wednesday, 8 November 2017

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Fuel Allowance Eligibility

Photo of Kevin O'KeeffeKevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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207. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the national fuel allowance scheme will be reviewed in respect of persons who are in receipt of social welfare and reside with a person who is in receipt of the minimum wage or is on low income but is over the threshold of €100 per week in view of the difficulties many persons on social welfare experience in meeting the cost of purchasing fuel. [47183/17]

Photo of Regina DohertyRegina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week from October to April, to 376,000 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 criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. People who are in receipt of a qualifying contributory payment must also satisfy a means test. All non-contributory recipients are accepted as satisfying this means test.

A fuel applicant and members of his/her household may have a combined assessable income of up to €100 a week above the appropriate rate of State Pension Contributory and qualify for a payment. This ensures that the fuel allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own. The €100 a week means limit is significantly higher that the weekly fuel allowance rate of €22.50 and also the combined weekly total of household benefits and fuel allowance added together (€33.65).

Fuel applicants must also satisfy the household composition criteria, i.e., they must live alone or only with the following:

- a qualified spouse / civil partner / cohabitant or qualified child(ren);

- a person in receipt of a qualifying payment who would be entitled to the allowance in their own right;

- a person who is receipt of Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit in respect of providing full time care and attention to the Fuel Allowance applicant or their qualified spouse / civil partner / cohabitant or qualified child(ren);

- a person receiving short term Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) or Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance (less than 391 days for JA and less than 15months/456 days for Basic SWA).

Therefore a social welfare dependant who is living with someone other than those listed above would not be entitled to the fuel allowance.

The Guidelines for the Fuel Allowance Scheme are kept under review. However, any decision to change the household composition requirement and to increase the combined assessable income for a household would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances who have special heating needs due to ill health or infirmity. Exceptional needs payments may also be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which a person is unable to meet from his/her own resources.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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