Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

369. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason that job initiative participants are still not entitled to fuel allowance given that many are now suffering from fuel poverty. [45624/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. 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.

The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to the Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance, a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and satisfy all relevant qualifying conditions.

The Job Initiative Scheme programme provided full-time employment for people 35 years of age or over, who had been unemployed for 5 years or more. Since November 2004, there has been no recruitment to the Scheme. Since January 2004, participants on the Job Initiative Scheme could no longer retain their entitlement to Fuel Allowance while participating on the scheme. This decision was taken as the minimum rate of payment to participants on the scheme was significantly higher than the rate of qualifying Social Welfare payments.

The minimum rate of payment to a Job Initiative participant is still significantly higher than most Social Welfare primary payments, including payments such as Illness Benefit and Jobseeker's Benefit, which are also non-qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance. Participants on the Job Initiative Scheme are also considered to be in full time employment and not in receipt of a Social Welfare support payment.

Any decision to allow Job Initiative Scheme participants to access the Fuel Allowance payment would have to be considered in the context of overall scheme policy and in a budgetary context.

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.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

370. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration has been given to extending child benefit to persons over 18 years of age who remain in full-time secondary education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45638/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to over 631,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of more than €2.1 billion in 2022.

There are currently no plans to extend Child Benefit in respect of full-time students in second level education who are over 18 years of age. Such an extension would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.

Families on low incomes may be able to avail of a number of social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:

- Increase for a Qualified Child (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;

- the Working Family Payment for low-paid employees with children; and

- the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.

These schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income and thereby support low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.