2109. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider increasing the weekly fuel allowance payment from €38 to €42 in Budget 2027 and retaining the 32-week fuel allowance season, in order to restore the purchasing power of the payment to its 2020 level and provide greater certainty to households; and the estimated cost of these measures. [63918/26]

The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of financial supports, energy efficiency awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock.

As part of the Government's €250m targeted supports in March this year I was delighted to announce the extension of the 2025/26 Fuel Allowance season, by four weeks. The additional four weeks Fuel Allowance payment provided an additional €152 to households.

However, any further changes to the Fuel Allowance scheme such as permanently extending the period it is paid for or increasing the weekly rate would require additional funding for the scheme and therefore any decision to increase the Fuel Allowance thresholds would have to form part of overall budgetary negotiations.

The estimated cost of expanding the Fuel Allowance season by 4 weeks at a rate of €42 a week is as follows:

The costings are based on an estimated average number of recipients in 2027 of 470,000 and are subject to change in light of emerging trends and subsequent revision of the estimated number of recipients.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.