Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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444. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person with an income under €500 will qualify for the fuel allowance in 2023 if they are in receipt of a local authority pension and are not in receipt of any social protection payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48479/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 more than 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. Only one allowance is paid per household.

In Budget 2023, I announced that, from January 2023, a new means threshold will be introduced for people aged 70 years and over. The new means threshold will be €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple.

This measure seeks to ensure that older people not currently in receipt of Fuel Allowance but who are marginally outside the thresholds will now be covered by the scheme. This reform is being introduced because older people can often be more vulnerable to the effects of energy poverty.

Those aged over 70 will no longer be required to be in receipt of a qualifying Social Welfare payment but will still have to satisfy all other relevant qualifying criteria.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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445. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if those on job initiative schemes are now eligible for the fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48480/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 more than 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. Only one allowance is paid per household.

The Job Initiative Scheme 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.

There has been no change to this decision and participants on the Job Initiative Scheme still cannot retain their entitlement to Fuel Allowance while participating on the scheme.

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.

While consideration is always given to suggested improvements to the Department's schemes, any decision to provide participants on the Job Initiative Scheme with access to the Fuel allowance payment would change the targeted nature of the Fuel Allowance scheme, as it would be awarding the payment to people in full-time employment irrespective of means.

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.