The Fuel Allowance is a welcome weekly payment of €38 for households as a contribution towards their heating costs between September and April each year. The extension of the Fuel Allowance to those in receipt of Working Family Payments comes into effect next week and will be backdated to January. This means that 50,000 additional households will now receive the Fuel Allowance.

The newly eligible families will receive backdated payments of up to €380 on Thursday, 12th March, together with their weekly Working Family Payment. From January 2026, the weekly rate of Fuel Allowance was increased by €5 a week to €38, giving a total per recipient of €1,064 each year.