Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary has confirmed that the first payments under this winter's Fuel Allowance scheme will be made this week.

The Fuel Allowance, which is a means-assessed payment, will be paid for 28 weeks, from late September to April, to 410,000 households across the State.

The payment is made at the weekly rate of €33 or if preferred, by way of two instalment payments of €462 each.

Minister Calleary said that the scheme has been expanded this year to allow more households to qualify.

From January 2025, the over 70s enhanced qualifying conditions were extended to people aged 66 and over.

These enhanced conditions include:

A person aged over 66 no longer has to be in receipt of a social protection payment to apply for Fuel Allowance;
A single person aged 66 or over can have means of €524 per week while a couple can have means of €1,048 per week;
In addition, the amount of capital that is disregarded was increased from €20,000 to €50,000;
Furthermore, from January 2025, carer’s allowance became a qualifying payment for the payment, subject to the applicant meeting all criteria of the Fuel Allowance scheme, including satisfying the means test.

Minister Calleary said that the Fuel Allowance "plays a vital role in supporting hundreds of thousands of families with their heating costs over the winter months".

"This is such a valuable support for so many households. We have expanded the eligibility conditions this year to allow more households to qualify and I encourage people to check their eligibility for this important payment," he added.

The following is a county-by-county breakdown of Fuel Allowance recipients:

Carlow: 6,735
Cavan: 7,394
Clare: 10,962
Cork: 43,922
Donegal: 20,364
Dublin: 87,149
Galway: 21,726
Kerry: 15,394
Kildare: 14,366
Kilkenny: 7,779
Laois: 6,767
Leitrim: 4,194
Limerick: 18,971
Longford: 5,330
Louth: 13,733
Mayo: 15,920
Meath: 12,856
Monaghan: 5,993
Offaly: 7,652
Roscommon: 6,680
Sligo: 7,066
Tipperary: 18,013
Waterford: 13,176
Westmeath: 8,289
Wexford: 17,539
Wicklow: 11,660.