76. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection to confirm whether consideration would be given to introducing a support specifically for older people to help with the cost of home heating oil. [67543/26]

113. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to making fuel allowance an automatic entitlement to everyone over 70 years-of-age; and the estimated cost that will be incurred to make this change. [67575/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 113 together.

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.

There have been significant improvements made in recent years to the Fuel Allowance scheme, especially in relation to the income threshold for those aged 66 or older.

In January 2023, in order to allow more pensioner households qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a new Fuel Allowance payment was introduced for people aged 70 and over.  People over 70 years of age no longer needed to be in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment to be eligible for Fuel Allowance.  A single person with means up to €500 per week or a couple with up to €1,000 per week became eligible.  The amount of savings and investments that are disregarded was also increased for people aged 70 or over from €20,000 to €50,000.

From January 2025, this measure was extended to applicants aged 66 and over, with an increase to the weekly means that could be disregarded to €534 for a single person and €1,068 for a couple.  Recent expansions to the scheme have resulted in many more households qualifying for the payment and have resulted in the Budget for the scheme increasing to an estimated €557.4 million in 2026 compared to an expenditure of €290.45 million in 2020.  Since 2020, an additional 100,000 households have become eligible for fuel allowance.

I am aware that there may be exceptional circumstances where a person does not qualify for Fuel Allowance but may need support, and it is for this reason that the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income or other personal and household resources.  Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service.  There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.  In addition, applications can be made online via  www.mywelfare.ie.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to examine key ancillary benefits such as the Fuel Allowance, Household Benefits Package and Living Alone Increase to support vulnerable groups.  This is an ongoing activity as part of the Department's budget planning each year.

I will continue, as part of the budget planning process, to examine improvements to key ancillary benefits to ensure that these benefits continue to support older and vulnerable cohorts.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.