Significant changes to the social welfare payment confirmed in Budget 2026 will benefit 460,000 households
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Budget 2026 was announced earlier this month and confirmed significant changes to the Fuel Allowance.
The social welfare scheme helps households with the cost of energy bills and is paid from September to April every year. It is paid in either 28 weekly instalments or two lump sum payments.
The current rate of Fuel Allowance is €33 per week. From January 2026, the weekly rate of Fuel Allowance will rise by €5 to €38 per week.
The Working Family Payment will become a qualifying payment for the Fuel Allowance from March 2026. Payment for people who meet the conditions of the scheme will be backdated to January 2026.
From September 2026, people moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension to take up work will keep their Fuel Allowance for five years.
According to the Government, 460,000 households will benefit from the Fuel Allowance increase. Aside from the changes to eligibility announced in the Budget, here is everyone else that qualifies for the payment.
To qualify for the Fuel Allowance you must:
- Be over 66 or over
- Be under 66 and get a qualifying social welfare payment (see qualifying payments below)
- Live alone (or only with certain people listed below)
- Satisfy a means test
You must also live in Ireland. You cannot get Fuel Allowance if your heating costs are provided in full as part of your accommodation.
To get Fuel Allowance, you must live alone, or with:
- A spouse, civil partner or cohabitant who qualifies for an increase on your pension or social welfare payment, or is getting a qualifying payment in their own right
- Dependent children
- A person who gets Carer’s Benefit, and who is caring for you or for your spouse, partner or cohabitant, or for a qualified child dependant on a full-time basis
- A person getting short-term Jobseeker’s Allowance (less than 312 days) or basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance (less than 364 days)
- A person getting a qualifying payment (for example, long-term Jobseeker’s Allowance) and who would be eligible for a Fuel Allowance in their own right
- A person aged 66 or over
- A person renting a room from you, where this doesn’t affect your entitlement to Fuel Allowance
- A person you provide accommodation to in your own home, and for whom you get the Accommodation Recognition Payment
Only one Fuel Allowance payment is paid to a household. If someone in the household is 66 or over, they should apply.
If more than one person in the household is getting a social assistance payment, you can decide who applies for Fuel Allowance.
If someone in the household is getting a qualifying social insurance payment, such as State Pension (Contributory) or Invalidity Pension, they should apply first (so a means test can be carried out on their income). Another qualifying person in the household can also apply for Fuel Allowance, but they must include information about the person getting a social insurance payment.
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