A payment of €125 as a once off measure to help with rising fuel costs will be made this week to approximately 372,000 households.
The payment, on top of regular Fuel Allowance, was agreed as part of the Government’s €505 million package aimed at mitigating the effects of rising energy costs.
Households will receive the payment in their bank account this week, depending on their particular social welfare scheme.
The Fuel Allowance, which is a means-tested payment, is paid to 372,000 pensioners, widows, widowers, jobseekers, lone-parents and people with disabilities.
The €125 payment is in addition to the weekly fuel allowance of 33 paid during the winter season.
The €200 credit on energy bills announced before Christmas will also begin to come into effect this month.
The fuel allowance payment comes as the price of coal is expected to rise by €7 per bag in the coming weeks in response to an increase in the cost of material and the war in Ukraine.
Alone the agency that supports older people is calling for the government to broaden the eligibility criteria for the Fuel Allowance as not every household in fuel poverty is eligible for the scheme.
