Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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66. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the processing times for the fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61064/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards their heating costs, it is not intended to meet these costs in full. The payment is made over the winter season at the weekly rate of €33.00 or, if preferred, by way of two payment instalments. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to re-apply annually.

As part of the overall social welfare Budget 2023 package of €2.2 Billion, I was pleased to secure a major expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme, expected to benefit up to 81,000 additional households during this fuel allowance season.

As Fuel Allowance is a means tested payment, Deciding Officers must have sufficient information to assess whether all the necessary eligibility conditions for the scheme are satisfied. In certain cases, additional information may be needed to allow the Deciding Officer to complete their assessment.

Fuel Allowance is generally paid in conjunction with a person’s primary social welfare payment. It is paid across a number of IT systems with differing functionality for recording processing activity, which means accurate information on fuel allowance processing is not readily available. However the Department is up to date with processing the normal intake of fuel application not subject to the budget changes

The budget measures, of most benefit to those over 70, are effective from January 2023. Implementation of the new measures, from January, required a number of changes to be made to the Department’s IT systems, some of which are now complete.

A new streamlined online application service was opened on 5 December 2022, to assist applicants, especially those over 70, to easily and quickly apply for the payment at a time and place that suits them. A paper application for over 70s will be available from 19 December 2022.

In preparation for an expected increase in applications from those over pension age, my Department has already assigned an additional 32 resources to process Fuel Allowance applications, with a further 13 to be assigned over the coming weeks. A telephone service is also in place to support customers. An information campaign, from 7 December 2022, aims to raise awareness about the Fuel Allowance payment and the new online service, particularly amongst those over 70.

I am advised that higher than normal volumes of applications continue to be received by the pension areas. These areas are currently processing these applications in anticipation of the increased volumes of applications on foot of the Budget 2023 announcement.

As at the end of November 2022, there are almost 383,000 Fuel Allowance recipients.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.