385. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of people in receipt of the contributory and non-contributory pension who are in receipt of living allowance but do not receive fuel allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54509/26]

For June 2026, there are 101,486 recipients of the State Pension Non-Contributory and 572,352 recipients of the State Pension Contributory.  This results in a total 673,838 pension recipients.  Of these 151,214 receive the Living Alone Allowance as of June 2026, while 188,535 received Fuel Allowance over the Fuel Allowance season.  Of the 151,214 Living Alone Allowance recipients, 59,160 did not receive Fuel Allowance over the last Fuel Allowance season.

The two payments are awarded based on different criteria.  Fuel Allowance is a means-tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs.  Living Alone Allowance payment is a continuous weekly non-means tested payment based on household structure to compensate for the additional living costs of people living alone.