Fuel Allowance
Fuel Allowance is a payment that helps with the cost of heating your home during the colder months. It is paid to people who are dependent on a long-term social welfare payment or Health Service Executive (HSE) payments, including one-parent families, and it provides a contribution to the increased cost of heating bills in the winter.
You may qualify for Fuel Allowance if you are getting one of the following:
- One-Parent Family Payment
- Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment
- Widow’s or Widowers’, Surviving Civil Partner (Contributory and Non-Contributory) Pension or State Pension (Contributory and Non-Contributory)
- Deserted Wife’s Benefit or Allowance
- Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance
- Disability Allowance
and you are living alone or with dependent children.
The Fuel Allowance was €33 per week in 2025. It is paid for 28 weeks of the year from October to April. The Fuel Allowance is paid with your main social welfare payment on the same day.
You can request to have it paid as two lump sum payments. To get your Fuel Allowance paid in two lump sums, usually in September and January, fill in the Change the Payment Frequency form (pdf) at least one month before the first lump sum is due.
Budget 2025
- It was announced as part of Budget 2025 measures, that the Fuel Allowance weekly rate will remain at €33 per week.
- From March 2026 Working Family Payment will become a qualifying payment for Fuel Allowance . The payment will be backdated to January 2026.
- From January 2025 the weekly means threshold for a single person under 66 is €489.30, and for a couple is €682.00. Weekly means for overs 66 couple is €748.70