Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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416. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of old-age pensioners who have been deemed ineligible for the fuel allowance due to residing with someone who does not qualify for the payment; and the number of OAPs deemed ineligible for the fuel allowance due to residing with an adult child, from 2018 to date. [42401/23]

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 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 instalments. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.

The Department does not report on specific cohorts. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the number deemed ineligible for the fuel allowance due to residing with an adult child.

The Department generally collates data on an annual basis. Departmental records indicate that, during the period from January 2018 up to and inclusive of August 2023 (i.e. 31.08.23), 38,188 old-age pensioners were disallowed Fuel Allowance as they were considered to reside in an unqualified household at the time of decision, as per table below:

* Some customers may have been disallowed the Fuel Allowance in more than one of the above years.

It should also be noted that some of those included in the statistics above may have subsequently qualified for fuel allowance at a later stage.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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417. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the issue of old-age pensioners being unable to access the fuel allowance due to adult children moving back into their parents' home; whether her Department will review the eligibility requirements for the fuel allowance in light of this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42402/23]

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. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.

The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including the household composition criteria. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own.

The Fuel Allowance guidelines allow a fuel applicant to live with a qualified spouse/civil partner/cohabitant or qualified child(ren). For the purposes of Fuel Allowance, a qualified child is one for whom an Increase for a Qualified Child is payable, or in the case of an applicant with no primary social welfare scheme, the child must be in full-time education if aged between 18 and 22. An unqualified family member who is living with a fuel allowance applicant may result in a reduction of additional allowances such as the Fuel Allowance payment to the householder.

A change in the qualifying criteria such as that proposed by the Deputy, would have to be considered in the context of budgetary negotiations. However, disregarding the income of another family member, would change the targeted nature of the scheme.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.