Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

118. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is concerned at the level of fuel poverty this winter in spite of the additional one-off payments made available by the Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59274/22]

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

While policy on energy poverty is primarily a matter for the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, I made a number of significant changes in Budget 2023 which will assist low-income households with rising energy costs.

A number of considerable reforms were made to the Fuel Allowance scheme with up an estimated 81,000 new households to benefit from the major expansion of the scheme. These reforms will come into effect from January 2023 and include:

- 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.

- The weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 will be increased by €80 from €120 to €200 above the appropriate rate of State Pension (Contributory).

- The Disablement Benefit payment will be disregarded when assessing means for Fuel Allowance purposes.

- The Half-Rate Carer’s Allowance payment will be disregarded when assessing means for Fuel Allowance purposes.

In addition to these measures, as part of the Government’s Budget 2023 cost of living supports, a €400 additional Lump Sum payment was made to all households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance Payment in November 2022.

In addition, there were other cost-of-living measures announced in the Budget such as the double week in social welfare payments in October and December (Christmas Bonus) and the living alone lump sum payment of €200.

The enhanced electricity credit of €600 is another important Government measure announced in the Budget. The first €200 will be applied to electricity bills before Christmas and the remainder will be paid in two tranches in January/February and March/April.

Core welfare rates, including pension payments and Working Age Payments, will increase by €12 from January 2023.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.