Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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493. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 262 of 8 February 2023, if a person (details supplied) on disability allowance can retain their fuel allowance and living alone allowance, if they avail of rent-a-room relief; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8859/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and Habitual Residency conditions.

Income from Rent-a-Room relief is not assessable as means for Disability Allowance. A Disability Allowance recipient who satisfies the ‘rent-a-room’ criteria will retain the Living Alone Allowance.

In order to qualify for the Free Fuel Allowance (FFA), the household composition criteria must be met. Therefore the status of the tenant will have an impact on the eligibility for the FFA.

I can confirm that the person concerned is in receipt of DA effective from 05 August 2009 and currently assessed with nil means. The person in question was in receipt of Living Alone Allowance (LAA) and Fuel Allowance (FF) payment up to 23 August 2022.

The DA claim of the person concerned is currently under review. LAA and FF payments have been suspended from 24 August 2022 pending a review of the person's means and household composition.

The claim was referred to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) on 25 August 2022 for a report on the person’s means and circumstances. Once the SWI has finalised and submitted their report, a decision will be made on the review as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.