Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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503. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost in 2022 if the fuel allowance increased to €31.50 per week. [46277/21]

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 370,000 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.

My Department also pays an electricity or gas allowance under the household benefits scheme at an estimated cost of €195 million in 2021.

The full year additional cost of the measure proposed by the Deputy is estimated at over €36 million, assuming no change in the number of recipient households or in the duration of the fuel season.

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 increasing the fuel allowance payment, can only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.

In Budget 2021, the Government targeted one third of carbon tax revenues to 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.

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.