Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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364. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount provided in the form of electricity allowance payment under the households benefit package since 2011; the number of units of electricity that electricity allowance corresponds to in each year since 2011; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59995/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Household Benefits Package is paid to over 482,000 households at an estimated cost of €265m in 2021. Of this cost, €174m relates to the electricity allowance element. The Household Benefits package is a contribution towards the running costs of a household, it is not intended to meet these costs in full. Only one Household Benefits Package is payable per household.

The annual expenditure on electricity allowance as part of the Household Benefits Package from 2011 to 2021 is set out in the following table, which includes the number of units and unit rates in 2011 and 2012 before the payment structure changed in 2013.

**The payment structure of the electricity allowance was changed from January 2013 moving from a unit-based allowance to a cash/credit allowance at €1.15 per day or, an average of €35 monthly, which was the best available market rate at the time. The new structure was designed to encourage customers to move between energy providers to attain the best value for their individual energy needs. Under the new structure, it also became possible to carry forward any unused entitlement, including when switching between energy providers.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.