The 2024-2025 Fuel Allowance season has begun, with Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys confirming the allowance will be paid to over 400,000 households from this week. The first fuel allowance payments will be made this week, with over 400,000 households expected to receive the allowance throughout the winter months.

The means-tested payment is intended to help with the cost of heating homes during the colder months of the year. The means-tested payment will be paid over the course of 28 weeks at a weekly rate of €33, or alternatively can be paid in two payments of €462 each.

Eligibility for Fuel Allowance

Those aged 70 and older or those who are receiving long-term social welfare payments and satisfy a means test are eligible for the allowance. A single person over the the age of 70 can have means of €512 per week to receive the payment, while a couple can have means of €1,024 per week. The total payment over 28 weeks amounts to €924, with recipients receiving €33 per week or two lump sums of €462.

Changes to Eligibility Criteria

The amount of savings disregarded in the over 70s means test has been increased from €20,000 to €50,000. In the case of a couple where only one person is over 70, they will be assessed under the over 70s means test criteria. The weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 was increased in Budget 2023 by €80 per week, up to €200 above the weekly rate of the state contributory pension.

Fuel Allowance Expansion

Last month, Minister Humphreys announced an expansion of the Fuel Allowance to employment support scheme participants, including those on the Rural Social Scheme. For this Fuel Allowance season, the period a person spends on an employment support scheme will count towards the qualifying period for Fuel Allowance. These employment support schemes include the Community Employment (CE) scheme, Tús, and the Rural Social Scheme.

The measure will benefit those that leave a qualifying social welfare payment (including the State Pension, Disability Allowance, Farm Assist and Jobseekers’ Transitional Payment) to engage in an employment support scheme. Those who move onto a qualifying social welfare payment or Fuel Allowance, following completion of an employment support scheme, will also be able to use the period spent on the employment support scheme to satisfy the payment period requirement for Fuel Allowance.

Fuel Allowance: A Vital Lifeline

Announcing the beginning of payments, Minister Humphreys said: “The Fuel Allowance plays a vital role in supporting hundreds of thousands of families with their heating costs over the winter months. Over the 28-week period, the Fuel Allowance is worth €924 for households who receive it.”

Minister Humphreys also said: “I am examining the criteria as part of [Budget 2025] to see how we can help more families help qualify because the one thing I don’t want to see is any old person afraid to turn on their heating.”

How to Apply for Fuel Allowance

The 2024/2025 Fuel Allowance season will begins today (September 23) and will end on April 4. Those in receipt do not need to reapply and will continue to get the payment, and I encourage anyone in Meath who feels they may be entitled to go to welfare.ie and check their eligibility,” Cllr Sharon Tolan concluded. If you need further information on the allowance, or know somebody who you believe does qualify, but is not claiming, all the info they would need is available here on the mywelfare.ie website.

Fuel Allowance a Lifeline for Families

The Fuel Allowance will play a vital role for families across Meath to help with their heating costs this winter according to Fine Gael General Election Candidate Sharon Tolan who said: “The Fuel Allowance is worth €924 for households in Meath were eligible, a very welcome contribution towards heating costs for the winter months. I was delighted that my colleague Minister Heather Humphreys broadened the eligibility of the scheme resulting in more families in Meath benefitting from the payment.”

“Thanks to these changes, there are now 400,000 households across the country in receipt, and they can choose between a weekly payment of €33 or two payments of €462. In Budget 2023, Fine Gael also introduced a new over 70s means test for Fuel Allowance. Under this, a single person can have a means of €512 per week and a couple can have means of €1024 per week and still qualify for Fuel Allowance. Fine Gael is committed to putting money back into the pockets of families in Meath, and this is just one of many ways the government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting those who are most in need. This commitment will be continued and reflected in Budget 2025.”