Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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365. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of extending eligibility for the fuel allowance to all pensioners, to all in receipt of the working family payment and/or a medical card; the estimated cost of abolishing the waiting period of a year for those on JSA, and by increasing the rate by €20 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23792/23]

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, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023 and received by approximately 404,256 households at the end of the Fuel Season. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.

My Department does not hold data on persons in receipt of a medical card and is therefore unable to provide a costing for the extension of fuel allowance to this cohort.

There are approximately 674,685 pensioners in receipt of qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance. Of these, 191,771 are already in receipt of fuel allowance. This would give an additional 482,914 Fuel Allowance claims if the fuel payment was awarded to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment for fuel allowance. My Department does not hold data on household composition of all pensioner households and, therefore, Fuel Allowance may already be payable to another member of the household. Taking this into consideration, the estimated cost of extending eligibility for the fuel allowance to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment is as follows: -

Based on 41,761 additional recipients of the working family payment (WFP) qualifying for the fuel allowance, the estimate cost of extending the fuel allowance payment to all those in receipt of WFP is as follows: -

Because of the household and seasonal nature of the fuel allowance payment, it is difficult to provide an accurate estimate of the full-year cost of abolishing the 12-month waiting period for eligibility for the scheme for those in receipt of jobseekers allowance. Fuel Allowance is paid to people on long term payments as they are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty. It is for this reason that the Department allocates additional payments, supports and resources to help this cohort of claimants.

However, based on an assumption of 20,938 additional recipients of jobseeker’s allowance qualifying for the fuel allowance if the waiting period of 12 months was abolished, the estimate cost of the measure is as follows: -

If the rate of Fuel Allowance payable was increased by €20 a week, the estimated yearly cost of the measure for those currently in receipt of the Fuel Allowance on the one hand, and, on the other hand, including the increased numbers who would qualify if Fuel Allowance was extended to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment for fuel allowance, WFP and jobseekers allowance claimants without a waiting period, is as follows: -

The estimated combined additional yearly cost of the measures set out by the Deputy would likely be in excess of €1 billion.

Any decision to extend the eligibility criteria for Fuel Allowance or to increase the weekly rate payable would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

This year, funds raised through the carbon tax will again support targeted social welfare and other initiatives to alleviate fuel poverty and ensure a just transition. In this regard, in the forthcoming budget, the Government will consider how it can support people on low incomes and those on social welfare payments who are at risk of fuel poverty.

Finally, my Department 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.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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366. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of extending eligibility for the household benefits package to all pensioners and to all in receipt of the working family payment and/or a medical card, and by increasing the rate to €60; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23793/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Household Benefits Package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. My Department will spend approximately €285 million this year on HHB for over 511,000 customers.

People over the age of 70 receive the HHB package, with one package provided per household. The package is also available to people living in the State aged 66-69 years who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments or who satisfy a means test. The package is available to some people under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments.

My Department does not hold data on persons in receipt of a medical card and is therefore unable to provide a costing for the extension of these measures to this cohort.

There are approximately 674,685 pensioners in receipt of qualifying payments for HHB. Of these, 383,250 are already in receipt of HHB package. This would give an additional 291,435 HHB claims if HHB was awarded to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment for HHB. My Department does not hold data on household composition of pensioner households and, therefore, HHB may already be payable to another member of the household. Taking this into consideration, the estimated cost of extending eligibility for the HHB to all pensioners in receipt of a qualifying payment is as follows: -

Based on 48,661 recipients of the working family payment (WFP) and a yearly cost of €580 per HHB claim, extending the HHB to all those in receipt of WFP would cost an estimated €28.2 million. If also increasing the monthly rate to €60, the cost would be an estimated €42.8m for WFP recipients.

If the increases to the electricity/gas element outlined in the question were introduced in 2024, the estimated additional yearly cost for those estimated to be in receipt of HHB in 2024 based on current qualifying criteria (533,000) along with the additional claims if the measure in relation to pensioners and WFP was implemented would be as follows: -

The estimated combined additional yearly cost of the measures outlined by the Deputy would be in the region of €459.2 million.

Any decision to change the qualifying criteria for the HHB package payment or to increase the electricity/gas element of the package would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.

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.