Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 October 2024
287. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Donegal now qualifies for fuel allowance given the recent changes to qualification criteria for CE participants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39781/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFuel Allowance is a payment to help eligible people with the cost of heating their home from 23 September 2024 until 4 April 2025. The Fuel Allowance is payable to people who satisfy the conditions of the scheme and who either live alone or only with certain qualified people living at their address.
Individuals under the age of 70 must be in receipt of a qualifying payment to apply for Fuel Allowance.
Qualifying Payments are:
• Jobseeker's Allowance (greater than 312 days)
• Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) greater than 364 days/12 months
• Farm Assist
• One Parent Family Payment
• Jobseeker’s Allowance Transition
• Blind Pension
• Deserted Wife's Benefit or Allowance
• Disability Allowance
• Invalidity Pension
• State Pension (Contributory or Non-Contributory)
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory or Non-Contributory)
• Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension (Contributory or Non Contributory)
• Incapacity Supplement under the Disablement Pension Scheme
• Death Benefit Pension (previously known as Type 15) under Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme
• Revenue Job Assist
• Social Security Payment from a country covered by EU Regulations or a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement (of which there is an Irish equivalent payment).
The Fuel Allowance Guidelines were amended from the 15th of August 2024 to provide that the period a person spends on an Employment Support Scheme (CE, Tús and RSS) may now be counted when assessing if that person satisfies the qualifying period criterion for Fuel Allowance purposes. In order to have the period on the Employment Support Scheme counted, the individual must have been in receipt of one of the aforementioned qualifying payments prior to commencing on said scheme.
In this case, the individual was in receipt of Illness Benefit which is not a qualifying payment and therefore she does not qualify for Fuel Allowance.
As part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments (ANP) to individuals who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers. Additional Needs Payment applications can be submitted online through the MyWelfare platform, (mywelfare.ie).
Alternatively, a paper application can be sent to Dungloe Community Welfare Service, Dungloe Intreo Centre Public Service Centre, Gweedore Road, Dungloe, Co Donegal, F94 WV84 where it will be assessed promptly. For convenience, an ANP application form was sent to the home address of the person concerned on 03/10/2024.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
