Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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788. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he plans to amend the fuel allowance eligibility criteria for recipients over 66 years in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23220/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The criteria for Fuel Allowance are in place to direct the limited resources available to my department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment aged over 66 a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including satisfy a means test and 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.

In January 2023, enhanced Fuel Allowance measures for people aged 70 years and over were introduced. In Budget 2025, these enhanced fuel measures were extended to all those aged 66 or older.

These measures include a new means threshold of €524 for a single person and €1,048 for a couple. In addition, the amount of capital that is disregarded in the means test for Fuel Allowance was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. Savings over €50,000 are assessed on a proportionate basis only.

My Department's schemes are reviewed on an ongoing basis as part of the budget planning process, to consider if improvements can be made to ensure that these benefits continue to target vulnerable cohorts. Any future decisions will, of course, have to take account of the availability of financial resources.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.