Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
62. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has any plans to review the one-payment per household rule for fuel allowance, whereby children on low incomes are forced to live at home due to the housing crisis and are refused support based on parental incomes, despite qualifying for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2680/26]
View answerThere is no automatic entitlement to the Fuel Allowance payment and entitlement to the payment is contingent on a household satisfying all relevant qualifying criteria.
The qualifying criteria for the Fuel Allowance payment, ensures that the payment is targeted at 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 assessing Fuel Allowance on an individual rather than a household basis and allowing the payment of more than one Fuel Allowance in a household would have to be considered in the context of scheme policy and budgetary negotiations. However, any decision to do this would change the targeted nature of the Fuel Allowance payment.
I understand however that there will always be exceptional cases and it is for this reason that my department provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme. Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
