Thousands more people will be eligible for the Fuel Allowance Scheme as the Department of Social Protection has expanded the income limits.
The changes should allow 80,000 more people to qualify for this support.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys announced the new system this month.
As part of the update, a new Over 70s Means Test for Fuel Allowance will be introduced with a number of alterations.
The first of which is that a single person over 70 can have income of €500 per week and a couple can have income of €1,000 per week. The next is that people over 0 will no longer need to be in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment to be eligible for Fuel Allowance.
A statement on the Government’s website, gov.ie, said: “In the case of a couple where one person is over 70 and one is under 70, they will be assessed under the Over 70s Means Test criteria.
“In addition, Minister Humphreys is also more than doubling the amount of savings that are disregarded in the means assessment for the Fuel Allowance payment for people aged over 70.”
Under this, the statement said that the first €50,000 in savings and investments will now be completely disregarded in the means test.
As a result, the new Capital/Savings Disregard for Over 70s Fuel Allowance is as follows:
Speaking about the new scheme for Over 70s, Minister Humphreys said: “As Minister, the one thing I do not want to see is any old person afraid to turn on their heating.
“Our senior citizens have worked hard all their lives; they have put in their shift and I want to make sure they can live in comfort.
“That’s why I am introducing this new Over 70s Fuel Allowance scheme, which will ensure tens of thousands more older people will now qualify for the payment.
“My department has developed a new user-friendly online application that will be open for applications from today. I strongly encourage those who think they may now be eligible for the payment to apply online via MyWelfare.ie.
“If you cannot apply online an application form is available on www.gov.ie/fuelallowance or by contacting 081 820 0400. A shorter version of the form will be available for over 70s in the next two weeks.”
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