Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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816. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will increase the means test allowance for single people over 70 years to qualify for fuel allowance in line with couples (details supplied); if he will take into consideration that it is the same cost to heat a house for a single person as it is for a couple; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23977/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment aged over 66 a person must satisfy all relevant qualifying criteria including satisfy a means test. The means test 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.

A person aged 66 or over can have income of up to €524 per week, or €1,048 per week for a couple, and still qualify for Fuel Allowance. The increased allowable means threshold for people who are married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership, acknowledges that the overall cost of living for this cohort is higher than for a single person.

While my Department's schemes are reviewed on an ongoing basis, any changes to the means test could only be considered in a wider budgetary and policy context.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme, taking into account the requirements of the legislation, and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.