Social Welfare Benefits

This is an issue I have brought up previously with the Minister, Deputy Calleary. I have also brought it up with a number of the Ministers with responsibility in relation to housing. We need to deal with the issue. I imagine that almost everyone who has operated as a constituency TD in this place has come across people, generally older people, who come into their offices or make contact with them about a fossil fuel boiler that has broken. They do not have the money to fix it. In some cases, they would previously have been able to apply to the council to possibly get housing aid for older people and they would have been able to get it replaced. The councils no longer deal with fossil fuel boiler replacements and say they will only deal with refurbished boilers. I ask anyone to go out and try to find a refurbished boiler. It is a very particular issue. We are talking about people whose houses would not necessarily be airtight so there is no possibility, without huge expense, of making the house suitable for something renewable and sustainable like heat pumps. We know the long delays in getting these resources. I will go through one or two examples. An older man on disability allowance has a boiler that has been broken since about July 2026. He has had no hot water or heating since July and the council will not provide a grant for fossil fuel boilers, as I have stated. Again, this is what the community welfare officer had requested that we would do. Many of these housing grants are often shut down and closed during the summer by Louth County Council and other local authorities because of lack of funds. This is something the Government needs to look at. Obviously, everybody contacts the SEAI but there is no grant available for what we are looking for in these sorts of older homes. This man would be waiting for probably 15 months to be able to avail of the warmer homes scheme. He is left in a situation where he cannot get heating. He is paying a very small mortgage - it is a house he owns himself - from his disability payment but he has no funds to replace the boiler. He has provided quotes and bank statements showing that he has zero funds. We are talking about someone in a very difficult set of circumstances. He has no heat and no hot water and we are not able to get an exceptional needs payment. That is the crux of the matter. I have met many pensioners who previously had applied for their council grant and got their boiler fixed, time and again, and now they have been told the fossil fuel boiler is absolutely kaput. I am thinking also of a particular pair who I have spoken to in the last week. They are both heading for 70 and they do not know exactly what they are going to do, particularly as we get into more difficult weather. There is a man of 80 who has a wife with a disability and a number of older children with disabilities. Unfortunately, he tragically lost one during the year. There was the expense then in relation to the funeral. Again, he is not able to get his boiler replaced. The house is not suitable for a heat pump through the council grant scheme. He has failed to get it through an emergency needs payment. We have a failure at every level here. The Government has to be aware of the issue. The Minister of State has to be aware of it. We need to find a solution because this is not fair for all these people. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

I thank the Deputy. This is an issue we are all very much aware of, as the Deputy stated. I thank him for raising in the House those experiences of hardship as a result of boiler breakdowns. The Minister for Social Protection fully recognises the challenges faced by individuals who may be unable to access local authority grant schemes or who cannot wait for support through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland programmes. Since 1 January 2025, European Union legislation prohibits the provision of public financial incentives for the installation of new stand-alone fossil fuel boilers, such as oil or gas boilers. These provisions were implemented in Ireland by the then Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications through the European Union's energy performance of buildings regulations of 2024. The policy objective is to support the transition to cleaner and more efficient energy heating systems. Additional needs payments provide financial assistance towards necessary expenses that a person cannot reasonably meet from their own resources. All applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, having regard to the individual circumstances and the legislative provisions governing the scheme. However, supports from the Department of Social Protection are not intended to cover circumstances where another Government Department or agency has the primary responsibility. Supports are available through local authorities and the SEAI, depending on a person's circumstances. The local authorities have a range of grants to help eligible households to improve heating and energy efficiency. While new fossil fuel heating systems are no longer funded, grants available may support alternative energy-efficient solutions. For example, the housing aid for older people grant can assist with essential home improvements, including heating repairs and upgrades. It can fund repairs to existing oil or gas boilers by a qualified contractor, or the purchase and installation of a second-hand fossil fuel boiler and alternative heating systems, such as electric heaters or biomass stoves, where appropriate. While grant schemes may not be immediately available or may not provide the level of assistance sought, the additional needs payment scheme is not intended to supplement or replace supports that fall within the remit of other Departments, agencies or local authorities. Generally, the maintenance, repair or replacement of heating systems in owner-occupied properties is not a cost that falls within the primary remit of the Department of Social Protection. Although the additional needs payment scheme is not intended to fund boiler replacements, assistance may be available and is provided to address an immediate heating need. This can include support for temporary heating solutions, such as a portable electric heater and emergency boiler repairs, where deemed necessary and appropriate and having regard to the individual circumstances. The community welfare service works to identify the appropriate response and to ensure that the person's needs, including facilities such as heating and hot water, are maintained. While I appreciate the difficulties faced by households dealing with unexpected heating failures, decisions under the additional needs payment scheme must be made in accordance with the relevant legislation and guidelines. The Department of Social Protection will continue to ensure that applications are assessed fairly and consistently, taking into account the individual circumstances presented in each case, and will do so on a case-by-case basis.

I do not know where to start. On some level it is almost repeating the issue that the Minister of State has already stated exists. I accept she does not have the capacity here to deal with this very particular issue, but we need the Department of Social Protection, and the Departments of the environment and housing, to have a conversation on how we address this. We are talking about making sure people who were previously supported to get a heating system have that, which is absolutely necessary. In a perfect world, if we could get the warmer homes scheme and people could be dealt with in a short number of months, we would then have a solution for these people who do not have the resources that are necessary. The way that I read this, and I am sure I will read it a number of times, on some level it is just saying, "Tough, we have no solution here". I understand what has been said in relation to European Union legislation prohibiting the provision of public financial incentives for the installation of new stand-alone fossil fuel boilers, but we need to be able to find a solution. What is the point of having the Presidency of the European Council if we cannot even sort out simple issues like this that impact people and their ability to heat their homes? We are talking about homes that would take a huge level of expense and money these people do not have, even with SEAI supports, to get up to scratch so they could get a heat pump. They have no choice at this minute. They need to get some sort of support in relation to this. In every case, they have already tried to get these boilers fixed. Can someone tell me where you can get a second-hand boiler or a refurbished boiler? I would just love to know because I have not seen it. I have not seen anyone able to get it in a number of cases. I will be going directly to the Minister on this because we need to find a solution for these people, who are generally older. It is nearly always older people. Are we going to leave them without heating? We are talking about grant schemes that did exist before. This is not in any way good enough.

I reiterate that the European legislation prohibits the provision of public financial incentives for the installation of new stand-alone fossil fuel boilers, such as oil and gas boilers, which was introduced in January 2025. It is a European directive and, yes, it has had adverse consequences. There are a lot of schemes when people are in receipt of their fuel allowance. We are seeing houses across the country wrapped in insulation. This has been really effective. The idea that someone cannot get a second-hand boiler, or a boiler cannot be repaired, is not fully true and a bit disingenuous. The Department of Social Protection recognises the difficulties facing-----

If a contractor says a boiler cannot be fixed, it cannot be fixed.

The idea that people cannot fix a boiler or buy a second-hand boiler-----

It is incredibly difficult. Show me where to find one.

-----and that there are no alternative schemes available, is completely disingenuous. In my constituency of Dublin South-Central, so many houses in receipt of fuel allowance are receiving ancillary support from the SEAI. The Deputy has to acknowledge that, at the very least.

I have seen people who have been refused fuel allowance because someone in the house with intellectual disabilities was getting a disability payment.

When I was a member of the social protection committee, we had members of the Northern Irish social protection committee down and they could not believe the amount of grants we had available here. They were in awe of the SEAI and all that we provided. I just think the Deputy should say thanks and acknowledge-----

What about these people? They are hardly going to say thanks.

----what we are doing.

Who is the First Minister and the finance Minister in the North?

Deputy Buttimer knows the realities in the North in relation to the British Government, does he?

Why does Deputy Ó Murchú not just start with acknowledging the great scheme that is the SEAI?

Deputy Buttimer is failing to deal with the issue of partition.

Do not go down that road.

The Department of Social Protection recognises the difficulties faced by households when a boiler breaks down, and we all recognise that for our constituents, particularly during the colder periods and where access to alternative options may have a lead-in time. However, it is important to note, in particular in respect of the additional needs payment the Deputy raised, that the scheme must operate within its legislative framework. It is not intended to replace, duplicate or address shortfalls in schemes administered by other Departments.