Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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546. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the waiting time from application to decision for fuel allowance application on average nationally; the number of applications in County Tipperary; the number in County Tipperary awaiting decision for more than one, two, three and four months respectively in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10850/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 27 weeks from October to April, to over 365,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €227 million in 2018. 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. The total number of recipients of fuel in Co Tipperary is 16,591.

Fuel allowance applications are not processed at a central location as a stand-alone scheme. Instead they are dealt with by the individual scheme areas – usually as part of a customer’s application for that scheme. Therefore, the application for Fuel Allowance is tied up with the application for the particular scheme, and it is that rather than the Fuel Allowance application that can determine time to decision. Such times can vary considerably depending on the complexity and information requirements of the particular scheme and customer circumstances. Accordingly, the information sought by the Deputy regarding specific waiting times from application to decision on fuel applications is not available.