Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2024
489. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the full-year cost of giving the fuel allowance to every household that qualifies for the household benefits package; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42613/24]
View answerThe 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 €382 million in 2024. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.
If the measure outlined by the Deputy was introduced in 2025, it is estimated that there will be an average of 540,000 recipients of the Household Benefits Package. As 48% of those in receipt of the Household Benefits Package also receive the Fuel Allowance payment, it is estimated that this measure will result in an additional 280,800 households qualifying for the Fuel Allowance payment. Based on a yearly rate of Fuel Allowance of €924, the estimated yearly cost of the measure is €259.5 million.
|
Weekly Rate of Fuel Allowance |
Number of weeks payable |
Number of additional Claims |
Estimated Additional Yearly Cost |
|
€33 |
28 |
280,800 |
€259.5m |
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.
A change in the qualifying criteria such as automatically awarding the Fuel Allowance payment to all those in receipt of the Household Benefits Package would change the targeted nature of the scheme and would have to be considered in a wider budgetary and policy context.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
