88. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason working family payment recipients cannot access the fuel allowance in two lump sums; and if he will consider this option (details supplied). [67476/26]

Fuel Allowance eligibility encompasses 22 qualifying schemes, demonstrating the comprehensive nature of the support available to eligible households. In addition to these qualifying schemes, people over 66 do not need to be in receipt of a payment from this Department to qualify for Fuel Allowance, subject to satisfying a means test. According to the latest CSO data, there are just over 1.8 million households in Ireland. Of these, 463,910 households are eligible for the Fuel Allowance scheme, representing approximately 26% of all households nationwide.

The Programme for Government has committed to protect core welfare rates while ensuring that available resources are targeted at vulnerable groups.

As part of Budget 2026, I increased the weekly rate of Fuel Allowance by €5. This increased the weekly rate payable by 15%, from €33 to €38 a week or to €1,064 per fuel season. In addition, in March this year, I extended the 2026/2027 Fuel Allowance season, by four weeks. This added an additional €152 to households in most need of support and increased the fuel season amount to €1,216 in 2026. The estimated expenditure on the scheme in 2026 is of €557.4 million.

Fuel Allowance was extended to Working Family Payment recipients in January 2026. Almost 50,000 additional households have qualified for Fuel Allowance due to this measure. As the Working Family Payment is a 52-week payment the decision was made that Fuel Allowance would be paid weekly rather than as a lump sum as eligibility to the Working Family Payment can change during the fuel season.

I am conscious of the pressures that many working families are facing, and I have asked my officials to give consideration to the matters raised by the Deputy.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.