asked the Minister for Social Welfare why a man, receiving extended unemployment benefit and having exhausted 156 days benefit, is disqualified from receiving a free fuel voucher.

The cheap fuel scheme specifies the categories of persons who may participate. While recipients of unemployment benefit are not specifically included in the categories of persons eligible for cheap fuel, most local authorities apply the benefits of the scheme to a low income group which would include recipients of unemployment benefit considered eligible by the local authority whether they have exhausted 156 days of benefit or not.