Many people will have forgotten that the length of the period of payment of the winter fuel allowance was cut by 6 weeks in Budget 2012 .
Because of the extended cold spell this month – the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton T.D. has today (Wednesday, 27th March, 2013) announced that the Fuel Allowance season will be extended by one week for this year only.
The 2013 “season” was due to end on 5th April but it will now be extended to 12th April .
A total of 410,000 people receive the Fuel Allowance of €20 per week – so the extra one week extension will cost the state €8.2 Million
(About 1 weeks worth of Property Tax)