Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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296. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the payment of the fuel allowance for the full year will be examined (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35632/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €28.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €784 each year) from October to April, to over 372,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021. 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 Fuel Allowance is an important measure that assists pensioners and other welfare dependent householders to address income deficiency, especially during the winter when a household faces increased heating needs. The duration of the scheme is designed to coincide with the coldest periods of the year and it is for this reason the scheme runs from October to mid-April.

The household benefits package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. The package is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. The package is also available to some people under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain long-term welfare payments such as invalidity pension, carer's allowance, disability allowance, blind pension and incapacity supplement.

In order to support vulnerable households during the initial COVID-19 emergency, financial resources at that time allowed for the 2019/20 fuel season to be extended by four weeks for existing eligible customers on a once-off basis. While I fully understand that these are difficult times for many people, especially for the vulnerable and the elderly, any further economic measures, such as extending the 2020/21 fuel allowance season, can only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources. In this regard, the Deputy will appreciate the scale of support provided throughout the pandemic with over €8 Billion spent on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment alone to date.

In Budget 2021, the Government targeted one third of carbon tax revenues to go towards boosting the incomes of the poorest in our society. Based on ESRI research, three key DSP payments were targeted for increases in the budget as a result - the Fuel Allowance, the Qualified Child Allowance and the Living Alone Allowance. Accordingly, with effect from January 2021, I increased the Fuel Allowance by €3.50 per week to €28 for a period of 28 weeks, while the increase in carbon tax on solid fuels will not take effect until May 2021. This ensured that recipients benefitted from the increased payment over the winter period.

The full year cost of the Fuel Allowance would be €541.6 million approximately in 2021 if it was provided for the full year to the 372,000 eligible households.

Finally, under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Exceptional Needs Payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which customers are unable to meet out of their own resources, and this may include exceptional heating costs. Decisions on such payments are made on a case-by-case basis.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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297. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the research being carried out in association with an organisation (details supplied) into the cost of bereavement. [35636/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In Budget 2020, a budget of €60,000 was provided to support the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) in carrying out a research project into funeral poverty in Ireland.

This independent research by the IHF is to examine how bereavement affects people, particularly the economic impact of death. It seeks to trace the dynamics of bereavement in Ireland, identify immediate and longer-term impacts on families, identify the costs and deficits, and explore ways to mitigate the economic impact.

Funding from the Department is supporting the research, which was originally due to be completed by December 2020. However, the COVID-19 emergency resulted in much of the work being deferred and brought forward to 2021.

I understand that the first phase of the project was completed in 2020 and that funding support of €31,394.38 was paid to the IHF in December 2020.

I also understand that work is now underway on Phase 2 which is a qualitative phase exploring in-depth the economic impacts that bereavement can have, from the perspectives of the bereaved and the professionals who support them. The IHF team for this is in place and is in the process of developing its sampling strategy, with a view to completing this phase in September 2021.

I further understand that IHF's current plan is to finalise its work, combining the various phases of the project, in October 2021, when it intends to publish its findings, consisting of a final report and two short papers.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.