Local Parents Lose Fuel Allowance Overnight After Unemployed Children Move Back Home, Says Kildare TD

Deputy Wall said the problem has arisen where a person who returns to a house is "not working and is getting a social welfare payment."

It has been claimed that some older people in Kildare are being stripped of their fuel allowance the moment an older adult child returns home - even when that person is unemployed or in receipt of social welfare.

Kildare South Labour TD Mark Wall said he has dealt with several cases in the past two weeks alone.

He said some older people practically lost their €33-a-week payment overnight. 

The payment is set to increase to €38 next year. 

In each case highlighted by Deputy Wall, a son or daughter had returned home due to the ongoing housing crisis - unable to meet rent payments or because a relationship broke down.

“The affected families are genuine families. In many cases, a loved one, a son or daughter, will have left home to make a life for himself or herself but, for whatever reason, has come back under the roof again. They are in a housing emergency. Who is going to turn away their son or daughter? By putting a roof over the head of their son or daughter again, they are losing the payment," he said.

Under the Department of Social Protection’s household-composition test, any additional adult living in a home can disqualify the entire household from the fuel allowance.

This usually happens, however, if that additional adult is in employment.

Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary says the test is necessary to ensure the scheme remains targeted.

He denies that any specific group is being singled out and that he is prepared to examine the examples raised in Kildare. 

"To qualify for the fuel allowance payment, a person must satisfy all of the qualifying criteria, including a household composition test. This ensures that the payment is targeted at those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own," he said. 

But Deputy Wall said the problem has arisen where a person who returns to a house is "not working and is getting a social welfare payment." 

Fuel Allowance rules stipulate that people on short-term Jobseeker’s Allowance or basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance, those on a qualifying long-term payment, and anyone aged 66 or over can also reside in a home where the occupant is in receipt of fuel allowance. 

Renting a room or hosting someone under the Accommodation Recognition Payment is also permitted.

Deputy Wall said the issue is far wider than Kildare South and that the Department appears unaware of the scale of families losing the payment.