Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1000. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of working family payments there were in 2021 and to date in 2022; and the total number of payments for this period, by month, in tabular form. [19760/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The details requested for the number and payments of Working Family Payments for 2021 and January 2022 to March 2022 inclusive are set out in the table below.

WFP  Scheme Details

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy. 

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1001. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total amount that has been paid for the fuel allowance for the 2021-2022 winter season to date; the number of households that have received the payment for this season; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19761/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs.  The payment is a contribution towards heating costs, it is not intended to meet these costs in full.  The payment is made at the weekly rate of €33.00; or if preferred, by way of two lump sum payments; and is paid over the winter season.  Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household.  Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.

From the start of the 2021/2022 Fuel Allowance season to date, qualified recipients have received payment of €1,039.  Following an additional payment of €100, to be paid in May to those who received fuel allowance on the last week of the season, the total payment to qualified householders this season will be €1,139.  This represents a 55% increase (or €404) in fuel allowance support provided to low-income households compared to the 2020/2021 season.  When taken in conjunction with the electricity costs emergency benefit payment, due to be paid in April, qualified householders will have received over €600 in additional targeted Government supports over the course of this fuel season - the equivalent of over 18 weeks additional fuel allowance.

The Department generally collates data on an annual basis.  In 2021, the fuel allowance scheme supported  approximately 375,000 households at an estimated cost of €316.5 million.  The data for 2022 is not yet available.    

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1002. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of additional households that received the fuel allowance for the 2021-2022 winter season compared to 2020-2021; the number of additional households that were included as a result of the extension to income threshold as announced in Budget 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19762/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs.  The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full.  The payment is made at the weekly rate of €33.00; or if preferred, by way of two lump sum payments; and is paid over the winter season.  Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household.  Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually. 

The Department generally collates data on an annual basis.  The table below provides the number of Fuel Allowance recipients as at December 2020 and December 2021.  The data for 2022 is not yet available. 

When the change in means threshold for the scheme was introduced, it was estimated that up to 7,800 additional households could  qualify for the payment.  It should be noted that due to changes in circumstances, the number of qualifying recipients at any one time fluctuates on an ongoing basis.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1003. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of young persons who are in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance; the number of young persons who are in receipt of jobseeker's benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19763/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit are my Department’s two main statutory schemes providing income support to qualifying people who have lost employment and are unable to find full time work.  The estimated revised expenditure for 2022 for the statutory jobseekers schemes is approximately €2.17 billion.

Young jobseekers are eligible to apply for the means tested Jobseekers Allowance or Jobseekers Benefit if they have sufficient PRSI contributions.  The numbers of 18-24 year old's in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance and Jobseekers Benefit are some 12,700 and 3,300 respectively.

The Government's national employment strategy "Pathways to Work 2021-2025", which was launched in July last year, contains, among other measures, a series of targeted further education and training supports to enhance the employment opportunities for young jobseekers, to include:

- Ring-fenced positions for young people on the Work Placement Experience Programme;

- Additional Community Employment and Tús places for young people;

- Providing 50,000 further education and training places;

- Increased places on the JobsPlus recruitment subsidy- with the subsidy being available, on an earlier basis than normal, to employers when they recruit young people.;and,

- Targeting 10,000 apprentice registrations per year by 2025.

The aim of Pathways to Work 2021-2025 was to use these measures to reduce the youth unemployment rate back to or below the 2019 average of 12.5% by 2023.  According to the latest CSO data, the seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate for March is already below this target at 12.3% and further work in this area will continue to support these young people.

I trust that this clarifies the position for the Deputy.