Fuel Allowance 2025/26: End Date Confirmed as Weekly Payments Will Run to 3rd April 2026.
The end date for this winter’s Fuel Allowance season has now been confirmed, with the 2025/2026 scheme due to finish in early April.
The Fuel Allowance season for 2025/26 began on Monday, 22 September 2025 and is paid for 28 weeks, bringing the final week of payments to Friday, 3 April 2026.
Rate and key dates:
The Department of Social Protection confirms the current weekly rate is €38, payable from week commencing 29 December 2025 until 3 April 2026.
Budget 2026 provided for a €5 increase in Fuel Allowance (from €33 to €38) from January 2026.
Budget 2026 changes: who benefits. A number of measures affecting Fuel Allowance were announced as part of Budget 2026, including:
A Warm Coal Fire.
Working Family Payment (WFP) now qualifies for Fuel Allowance (subject to the qualifying conditions). Eligible WFP recipients will be paid in March/April 2026, and the payment will be backdated to January 2026 to include arrears.
The Department also confirms WFP customers do not need to apply in order to receive this Fuel Allowance payment, where no one else in the household is already getting it.
From September 2026, people moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension into work will be able to keep Fuel Allowance for five years (subject to the scheme rules).
Who can get Fuel Allowance. Fuel Allowance is designed to help with home-heating costs during the winter months. You may qualify if you:
Are aged 66 or over (you do not need to be on a qualifying payment, but you must pass a means test),
Are under 66 and getting a qualifying long-term social welfare payment, and you also pass a means test,
Are living alone or only with certain people (see below).
Important:Fuel Allowance is not paid where a person’s heating needs are provided for in full as part of their accommodation.
Living arrangements that can still qualify:
You may qualify if you live alone, or only with certain people, including:
A person aged 66 or over
A dependent adult or dependent child
Someone on a qualifying payment (but only one Fuel Allowance is paid per household)
A person getting Carer’s Benefit who is caring for you (or your dependent adult/child)
A person on short-term Jobseeker’s Allowance or Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance
Qualifying payments (examples). The Department’s list of qualifying payments includes, among others:
Certain EU/bilateral social security payments where there is an Irish equivalent.
Payment options and applications. Fuel Allowance is normally paid weekly during the season. Some customers can opt to receive it in two instalments instead (one at the start of the season and a second in January), subject to the scheme rules.
Emergency Preparedness Booklet to be Delivered to every Irish household, with new guidance on Community Support Centres.
Every household in Ireland is set to receive an emergency-preparedness publication in the coming weeks, as Irish Government moves to strengthen national readiness for severe weather and other disruptive events.
Large tree blown over on the N62 close to Thurles Golf Club entrance, during Storm Éowyn, last January 2025. Picture: G. Willoughby.
The “household resilience” booklet, prepared by the Office of Emergency Planning (OEP) in the Department of Defence, will provide practical guidance for households on preparing for and coping with emergencies, particularly extreme weather events such as major storms and the potential loss of essential services including electricity, water, heat and communications.
The booklet’s publication follows a recommendation from the review group that examined Ireland’s response to Storm Éowyn, which struck on January 24th, 2025 and triggered nationwide red wind warnings. The Storm Éowyn review notes that 768,000 electricity customers lost power, with peak gusts reaching 184 km/h at Mace Head, and that disruption was particularly severe in remote and rural communities.
Uprooted tree at junction with Littleton and the N62, on Mill Road, to the rear of Thurles Golf Club, during Storm Éowyn, last January 2025. Picture: G. Willoughby.
According to reporting, the review group highlighted the importance of households having a clear checklist of actions to remain safe, warm, fed and hydrated during an extended outage, with practical steps aimed at helping families to manage disruption.
Community Support Centres guidance issued to councils.
In parallel, local authorities have been issued with guidelines for establishing Community Support Centres (CSCs) to provide the public with essential services when major outages and disruption occur.
The guidelines indicate CSCs may be set up in a range of premises, including sports halls, community centres, town halls and leisure centres, and list practical requirements such as a large main room, tables and chairs, a kitchen or food-preparation area, toilets, reliable Wi-Fi, and sufficient extension cables. Accessibility requirements and provision for private space for specific needs are also referenced.
Press reports are understood to indicate CSCs are not intended to be used as overnight rest facilities, and that a key operational requirement is that locations should be generator-ready (or capable of being made ready), with local authorities covering electrician costs and supplying generators.
An Oireachtas committee opening statement in late 2025 also referenced that a Guide to Community Support Centres is now in place for use by all local authorities.
Cashel Craft Circle Join the Cashel Craft Circle every Wednesday from 10am-12pm for their social gathering. Bring along your own project to work on, share ideas, patterns and enjoy a chat and cuppa with others. No need to book for this event, just come along.
Practice your Cúpla Focal. “Bain triail as do chúpla focal sa leabharlann Chaiseal Mumhan. Tá fáilte roimh gach duine”. [“Try your hand at a few words (Irish Language) in the Cashel Munster library. Everyone is welcome”] See poster above for further details.
LEGO Free Play in Cashel Library! Join us for creative fun on Fridays: Jan 23rd, Feb 20th, Mar 20th & Apr 24th from 3:30 pm – 4:15 pm. Build, play, and let your imagination soar! Children must be 7+ to take part. Booking required: Tel: 062-63825. _______________________________________
Meanwhile, also join us once a month on Fridays, [Jan 23rd, Feb 20th, Mar 20th, Apr 24th,] from 10:00am to 10:30am for a fun and cozy story time. Enjoy the magic of books and quality time together! See poster above. To book your spot or learn more call Tel. No 062-63825.
One last bit of Christmas magic before the Christmas tree is taken down this Year.
❤️ Turning a simple family photo into a nostalgic, storybook-style keepsake is pure heart.
Before you take down the Christmas tree, take one last photo of the kids in front of it, then try the following. Having dropped your image into ‘chatGPT‘, request the advanced AI chatbot, to “Please turn this photo into a Norman Rockwell-style painting“.
Christmas 2025.
Norman Rockwell’s work is famous for warm, detailed scenes of everyday family life, the kind that feel instantly nostalgic. The result can be a beautiful, print-ready keepsake for your wall, and even better, a perfect start on next year’s Christmas cards. [Please view HERE]
🎄✨ For expected result see above picture. Same will be returned with properties of over 3.00 MB in size, suitable for a high quality 10 X 8in print. If you try it, post your copy on our facebook, we would love to see your Christmas memories turned into something timeless.
ALDI Ireland has confirmed it is reducing retail prices across its private label butter range, with immediate effect, with the new prices now available nationwide, including at the ALDI store on Kickham Street, Thurles (Eircode E41 YP28).
This move follows a series of recent price reductions by the retailer on key household staples across its range, including milk, bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, lunchbox essentials and meat.
New Kilkeely butter prices (effective immediately): Kilkeely Pure Irish Creamery Butter 454g – €3.39 (down from €3.99). Kilkeely Pure Irish Creamery Butter 227g – €2.09 (down from €2.39). Kilkeely Unsalted Irish Butter 227g – €2.09 (down from €2.39).
ALDI have confirmed it will continue to review the market daily, to ensure it remains the best value retailer on price, noting it has cut prices on hundreds of products over recent months.
Mr Niall O’Connor, (Country Managing Director of ALDI Ireland), said the retailer was focused on helping shoppers after a costly Christmas period and reiterated ALDI’s commitment to value across its range.
This price reduction on butter is the latest in a wider programme of cuts by the discounter on everyday essentials in recent months.
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