Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

135. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands' Report entitled ‘Report on Energy Poverty 2024’. [40508/24]

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

Firstly, I would again like to commend the Joint Committee on their excellent report and thank the members for their work on behalf of the committee.

As pointed out in the report, energy poverty is indeed a complex issue and is of concern for Government. High energy costs, low household incomes, and energy-inefficient housing all contribute to households suffering from the impact of energy poverty.

The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of financial supports, energy efficiency awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. The supports provided by the Government are cross Departmental and, in this regard, my Department is represented on the Energy Poverty Action Group, with the overall strategy to combat Fuel Poverty and Energy Poverty under the remit of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

I am committed to working towards solutions to support those in energy poverty and my Department provides a range of supports to assist with energy costs.

The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks, which equates to a total payment of €924 each year. Fuel Allowance is paid from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €382 million in 2024. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. As part of Budget 2025, I was delighted to announce a number of measures in relation to the Fuel Allowance payment that will allow more households to receive the payment and also provide more financial support to those in receipt of the payment. These included:

• €300 once-off payment to all households receiving Fuel Allowance in November 2024.
• Carer’s Allowance will become a qualifying payment for Fuel Allowance from January 2025, subject to meeting all criteria of the Fuel Allowance scheme, including satisfying the Fuel Allowance means test.
• The enhanced over 70s Fuel Allowance qualifying conditions will be extended to people aged 66 and over from January 2025