Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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620. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider making amendments to the fuel allowance threshold; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37553/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. It is a targeted payment to people dependent on specified long-term social welfare payments. The purpose of this payment is to assist those households most in need with their energy costs.

In Budget 2022, the Government increased the weekly means threshold for the Fuel Allowance scheme by €20 to €120, which enables more people to qualify for this support.

The allowable means limit ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.

Any decision to further increase the allowable means for the Fuel Allowance payment would have budgetary consequences and can only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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621. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will remove the fuel allowance means test for persons over 70 years of age in line the household benefits scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37596/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The criteria for fuel allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the fuel allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including a means test and the household composition criteria. This ensures that the fuel allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.

While the Department's schemes are reviewed on an ongoing basis, any further expansions to the Fuel Allowance scheme in the manner outlined by the Deputy would have cost implications and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.

However, significant additional cost is not the only feature of the Deputy's proposal. Removing the mean test criteria for the Fuel Allowance payment to the cohort of people referred to by the Deputy would fundamentally change the nature of the scheme. The scheme would no longer be a targeted measure, as it would be awarded irrespective of a person's or a household's means. These are implications that would clearly require further consideration in any proposed expansion of the scheme.

The Government is acutely aware of recent price increases and their impact on households. For this reason, this Government did not await a further budget cycle to address these challenges but acted early. Overall, the tax and spending measures we have introduced to ease the burden and provide support to those most in need have amounted to €2.4 billion.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.