Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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269. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person (details supplied) will be eligible for the fuel allowance on the basis that they are currently on the jobseeker’s allowance for less than 312 days and have previously been in receipt of the working family payment; and if the working family payment can count towards the 312 days. [49212/22]

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 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. Only one allowance is paid per household.

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. 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.

A person in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance must be in receipt of the payment for 312 days or more to satisfy the qualifying payment criteria. Periods spent on the Working Family Payment cannot count towards the 312 days as the person is in full-time employment during this period.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.