Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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163. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures he is taking to address the risk of more people falling into energy poverty this winter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50845/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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 Climate, Energy and the Environment.

With regard to income supports my Department provides a range of schemes to assist with energy costs. These include:

• The Fuel Allowance which is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks giving a total per recipient of €924 each year from October to April at an estimated cost of €400 million in 2025.
• Electricity or gas allowances under the Household Benefits scheme at an estimated cost in 2025 of €224 million.
• A special heating supplement under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.
• Additional needs payments to help meet an essential once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources.