Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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472. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider a work-around for people who qualify for fuel allowance who rely on district heating systems for their homes and do not have a GPRN number; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16028/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from October to April, which is supporting up to an estimated 400,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 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.

A household can only be deemed to qualify for Fuel Allowance if they have submitted a completed fuel application form to my Department and a Deciding Officer has approved payment of Fuel Allowance to that household.

To qualify for Fuel Allowance a household must satisfy a number of qualifying conditions including being in receipt of a qualifying payment, satisfy a means test, satisfy the household composition test and must be unable to provide for their heating needs from the resources of their household.

Fuel Allowance is not paid if a person’s heating needs are provided for in full as part of their accommodation. Therefore, if a household is heated as part of a district heating system and their heating needs are provided for in full, no Fuel Allowance is payable. If the household still contributes towards the cost of heating their home even at a subsidised level, they may still qualify for Fuel Allowance, if they satisfy the other qualifying conditions of the Fuel Allowance scheme.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.