Pensioners forced to stay at home will get rise in heating allowance
:: Budget Covid measure will also help unemployed
A MAJOR increase to the weekly fuel allowance is expected in the Budget to offset the cost of increased carbon taxes on heating bills while more people are forced to stay at home.
The Government is planning to use a significant portion of the €100m raised from carbon taxes to increase the weekly fuel allowance rate to ensure the least well-off in society are not affected by the environmental tax. Government sources said the €24.50 weekly rate may increase by another €2 a week but insisted negotiations were still ongoing.
The move would be a huge boost to people who are facing increased home heating costs due to higher carbon taxes the Green Party has insisted on as part of the Programme for Government.
The allowance is available to pensioners, widows and people who are long-term unemployed. Many will be forced to spend more time in their homes during winters due to Covid19 restrictions while home heating costs rise.
However, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys is understood to be pushing to increase the fuel allowance to offset the cost of carbon taxes on low income families.
It comes as Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned a point of no recovery may be reached if countries such as Ireland fail to act on the climate crisis.
Mr Martin, along with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Climate Action Minister Eamon Ryan, published landmark climate legislation that will require the current coalition and future governments to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, reaching a net zero position by 2050.
The Climate Action (Amendment) Bill omitted the expected ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 but Mr Ryan said separate legislation would follow on that next year.
A MAJOR increase to the weekly fuel allowance is expected in the Budget to offset the cost of increased carbon taxes on heating bills while more people are forced to stay at home.
The Government is planning to use a significant portion of the €100m raised from carbon taxes to increase the weekly fuel allowance rate to ensure the least well off in society are not affected by the environmental tax.
Government sources said the €24.50 weekly rate may increase by another €2 a week but insisted negotiations were still ongoing.
The move would be a huge boost to people who are facing increased home heating costs due to increased carbon taxes the Green Party has insisted on as part of the Programme for Government.
The allowance is available to pensioners, widows and people who are long-term unemployed. Many of these groups will be forced to spend more time in their homes during the winter months due to Covid-19 restrictions while home heating costs rise.
However, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys is understood to be pushing to increase the fuel allowance to offset the cost of carbon taxes on low-income families. The Green Party is also supportive of the social welfare benefits.
Carbon taxes will increase by €7.50 to €33.50 per tonne in this year’s Budget. This will add €1.28 to the cost of a 60-litre tank of petrol or €1.47 to the same amount of diesel.
A 12.5kg bale of peat will increase 20c and €1.80 for a 40kg bag of coal. Gas heating will also rise by more than €15 per 15,000 kilowatts per hour.
Meanwhile, the Government is also examining a sector-specific commercial rates holiday that would benefit pubs, restaurants and other businesses hit by Covid restrictions.
Ministers are examining measures that would avoid granting a rates waiver for supermarkets and other large retailers who were not forced to shut during the pandemic.
All businesses are granted a waiver of commercial rates for the six months ending in September but extending this further would prove costly at €300m per quarter.
The Government is also examining a range of supports for aviation, including a capital works budget for building and maintenance work on airports at a time when passenger numbers are massively down on previous years.
A range of measures on remote working are also being examined as part of the Budget, including possible tax breaks or incentives for employees working from home. A source said no specific measures had been agreed.
Tax reliefs on light, heat, phone, and internet usage are already available.
A Government source stressed any incentives for remote working cannot make it more attractive to work from home than in the office. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has previously expressed a desire to get between 25pc and 50pc of the workforce back into offices next year.
Separately, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath will tell the Oireachtas Budgetary Oversight Committee today the overall Budget strategy is to prioritise crisis management measures to address Covid-19 and Brexit while preserving existing levels of State services.
Mr McGrath’s statement will say the levels of costs arising from dealing with the pandemic next year are “subject to significant uncertainty”.
He will say the 335,000 workers being supported by the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and more than 200,000 people on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment – even before Level 3 restrictions were brought in – shows the scale of the challenges facing workers and employers.