Additional Fuel Allowance payment to be made this week

The extra €100 Fuel Allowance Payment is being paid this week, the Department of Social Protection has announced. The government approved the additional lump sum payment earlier this year, and it is to be made to over 371,000 households who are in receipt of the allowance.

The €100 Fuel Allowance Payment will be paid automatically this week. It is not necessary to apply for the payment.

An extra payment of €125 was paid to people getting Fuel Allowance in the week beginning 14th March this year.

In making the annoucement on Monday, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said that the move was made as the government is ‘deeply conscious of the impact of rising energy costs.”

The Minister also said that people who may be depending on a social welfare payment each week, or who may be working and on low incomes, may qualify for an Exceptional or Urgent Needs payment to help with their heating needs.

“I also want to remind people receiving a weekly social welfare payment and also people who are working and on a low income that, under my Department’s Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments may be made to help them meet an essential, once-off cost which they are unable to meet out of their own resources and this may include exceptional heating costs.”

The Fuel Allowance is paid from the end of September to April each year for 28 weeks. A total of €914, it is paid at a rate of €33 per week, or in two lump sums depending on the recipients wishes.