Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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270. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there have been any changes in the fuel allowance for jobs initiative scheme participants to assist with fuel poverty. [49225/22]

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 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 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.