Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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148. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the working family payment for a person (details supplied) was refused; if they are being penalised due to their pandemic unemployment payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49987/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children.

In order to qualify for working family payment, the applicant and their spouse, partner or cohabitant must be engaged in fulltime remunerative employment as an employee for not less than 38 hours per fortnight.

Working Family Payment for the person concerned expired on 29th September 2021 and at that time as the person concerned did not satisfy the above condition, their working family payment renewal application was disallowed.

Following receipt of additional information a review of the application has been undertaken and the decision has been revised, with payment awarded from 30th September 2021.

A decision letter will issue this week advising the customer of the revised decision and payment arrangements.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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149. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person who received the fuel allowance while on the jobseeker’s allowance and continued to receive fuel allowance when they went on a community employment scheme will retain their fuel allowance when they transfer from a community employment scheme back onto the jobseeker’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49995/21]

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 370,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021 (subject to the Budgetary changes being introduced in Budget 2022). 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 payment is targeted towards 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.

A person may only continue to receive the fuel allowance payment if they continue to satisfy the qualifying conditions - this includes the qualifying scheme criteria. Therefore, the fuel allowance payment can only continue if a person on a community employment scheme moves back onto a qualifying scheme such as long-term jobseekers allowance.

Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances. Exceptional needs payments may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet from his / her own resources.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.