Dáil debates
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Social Welfare Payments
9:12 am
Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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My office has been contacted about this issue more frequently in recent months. I put on record my thanks and those of the staff who work at my constituency office in Limerick to the staff in the regional office of the Department of Social Protection, who do tremendous work, including especially earlier in the pandemic, and that has been, and is, very much appreciated.
I have been contacted by many Limerick residents who have applied for urgent payments such as the additional needs payment but who have not received a timely response to the status of their application. As the Minister of State will be aware, this is an exceptional payment that can support families when unexpected issues and essential expenses arise that they cannot afford to pay from their weekly income. Traditionally, the queries my office receives regarding this payment are in response to sudden expenses such as help with funeral costs, temporary assistance while awaiting a decision from the appeals office or following an unexpected incident such as a fire in the family home. More and more, however, we face queries on this payment from people who are finding their energy and food costs too high. The number of exceptional needs payments made towards heating and household bills has, historically, been quite low. For instance, in the first months of 2022, only 1,001 payments were made in the entire State. The community welfare service delivers the supplementary welfare allowance scheme as well. Unfortunately, the feedback we are receiving from applicants suggests that applications to the community welfare service are taking a very long time to process.
Since the sudden centralisation of the community welfare service during the summer, I have observed two major failings, the first of which is that people awaiting a decision from the appeals office are now being advised not to apply for the supplementary welfare allowance because the wait time is likely to be longer than the wait for an appeal decision itself. That was never previously the case. The second major failing is that those who have been allocated social houses are waiting a minimum of eight to ten weeks to receive their new home kit, which would enable them to buy some of the bare necessities such as cooking appliances and beds. This is putting a severe strain on the most vulnerable families.
I might give the Minister of State an idea of some of the people I am talking about. One lady I am dealing with has two autistic children, who, as she will be aware, need a daily routine. She previously rented for 13 years and was delighted to be offered a local authority home in May. Due to delays, she received the keys in August and, unfortunately, could not apply for the new home kit until then because she had to wait until she had the keys. It is ten weeks later and she has not received the payment. Two autistic children are not eating properly because they have no fridge or cooker. Another person I am dealing with is an elderly man who was placed in housing specifically for elderly people. He had no furniture of his own because he had rented privately for years. He has applied for the new home kit for furniture and is currently sleeping on the floor because the additional needs payment has not yet been approved.
These delays are, in many cases, turning what should be a celebratory event - gaining a home forever - into a nightmare. Other delays are leaving innumerable people without any sort of income for months on end. I appreciate the recent response from the Department outlining that an estimated 63% of payments are decided within four weeks of the application and I think the next 2% are decided within eight weeks, but my local area, where the staff do exceptional work, now has delays of up to ten weeks. Furthermore, that response outlined that a back-office team undertakes preparatory work on applications and that this process frees up community welfare officers, CWOs, from such administrative tasks. Will the Minister of State outline how these applications are dealt with? Are they triaged, with the most urgent cases addressed first, as was suggested in a recent reply to a parliamentary question, or is it first come first served, as I have been told is the case by CWOs?
Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection. The additional needs payment is available from the Department of Social Protection to assist people who are experiencing genuine financial hardship. As of the end of September 2022, almost 66,000 applications for additional needs payments had been processed and awarded, representing a 60% increase in the number of applications awarded compared with the same period in 2021. This rise in the number of applications in 2022 reflects a return to pre-pandemic levels and a number of positive new measures introduced by the Minister earlier this year to try to simplify the process and make it easier for people to access additional needs payments. These measures include the removal of the 30-hour rule and the establishment of a national helpline phone number. In addition, there was a major public awareness raising campaign by the Department to increase awareness of the payments, which many Deputies will have heard on national radio over recent months. It is clear from the statistics that those efforts have worked and, as I said, the number of applications awarded so far this year is 60% ahead of the same period in 2021.
There are a number of different ways to apply for an additional needs payment. A person can apply over the phone, by visiting a local Intreo office, by visiting a community welfare officer clinic or, where necessary, a CWO can call to a person’s home by appointment. Where it is obvious a person has an immediate need, every effort is made to ensure he or she will receive a payment on the same day. In fairness, we all deal with CWOs through our constituency offices and where the CWO recognises there is a clear and urgent need, he or she is normally good at making sure the person is looked after. Where an application is complete and the required documentation is supplied, it is generally processed in a matter of days. Where there are delays sometimes, this is generally due to additional information or documentation being requested from the person to support the application.
I listened to the specific concerns the Deputy raised regarding the mother of two autistic children and the elderly man with the furniture issue. It would be helpful if he could bring those details to the attention of the Minister, who can check with her Department as to the status of those individual queries. He also mentioned appeals and the new home kit. I have noted those comments and will convey them to the Minister. The criteria for the additional needs payment are quite broad and the decision on any emergency payment is taken by the CWO, who has discretion. In general, the requirement is that the money be needed for an essential expense the customer cannot pay from his or her weekly income. Someone can get this payment, therefore, even if he or she does not receive any social welfare payments, not least if he or she is on a low income. The Deputy mentioned some examples and asked about the payment in respect of energy costs. Increased costs of heating and electricity would fit the criteria, as would essential repairs to property and replacing household appliances or furniture, and assistance with deposits for private rented accommodation, as well as furniture, bedding and other items if a home is being set up for the first time.
Funeral costs are covered, as are recurring travel expenses such as for hospital appointments or visiting relatives in hospital or prison. Assistance is provided for immediate needs such as food, clothing and accommodation expenses following an emergency event such as a house fire. The payment does not cover non-essential household or personal expenses, or costs that are the responsibility of another agency or government body.
9:22 am
Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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In her response the Minister of State said that where it is obvious a person has an immediate need, every effort is made to ensure he or she receives a payment on the day. That used to be the case but the reason I am raising this issue is that it is not the case anymore, unfortunately. It is fine for us to stand here and discuss figures and percentages, but the reality is that the people who are most in need are not receiving payments from the Department in a timely manner. That is the problem I am trying to raise. There are people waiting 12 weeks for decisions on initial applications for long-term payments such as the invalidity pension, the disability allowance and the carer's allowance, and people waiting up to ten weeks for an exceptional needs payment. These are good people who, in many cases, have never contacted the Department previously. Many are providing an invaluable service to both the community and to the State. They apply for these payments out of necessity. They are not doing it for anything else.
I encourage the Minister for Social Protection to put the application form online. It would make it much handier seeing as the Government is centralising the service, which is a mistake. This is the minimum people should expect from the State during a stressful period of their lives. The community welfare service, which exists to help, should be able to step in immediately when people are most in need, be in good working order and be able to deliver on these needs promptly, as had always been the case. The centralisation of these processes seems to have been done in a rushed manner, with confirmation of the change provided after it had become a fait accompli. Since then, timelines for applications have increased on a near weekly basis. Timelines have jumped from six weeks when the community welfare service was first centralised, to eight and then ten weeks, and now the responses from the Department are without a specified timeline. As this centralisation has not worked, the community aspect has been removed from what was supposedly a community service. It is now just a welfare service. We have made a big mistake in the centralisation of it. It used to be that the CWO would know the people coming in and it was an easier service to administer. It is taking too long.
Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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We all recall that during the pandemic, and the Deputy mentioned this about Limerick, the staff in the Department of Social Protection went above and beyond to ensure people got the support that they needed in a timely fashion. I have every confidence that will be the case here as well. The Minister has confirmed that she will allocate additional staff to deal with the processing of payments.
The Deputy mentioned delays. A lot is being done. We have to remember that this is taxpayers' money. Where all of the necessary information and documentation is provided, payments are usually processed within a matter of days. Where there are delays, it is normally where additional information is required but, as I said, the Minister is allocating additional staff to assist with that. The Department is also currently examining the introduction of an online application option. The Minister has been approached by a number of Deputies about that. That is worth looking at and the Department is actively looking at it. At the moment, a person can apply by phone, or by visiting an Intreo office or a CWO clinic. More than €38 million has been paid out under the scheme. As I said earlier, that is a 60% increase on the awards last year. The Minister and her Department want people to be able to access these payments. That is what they are there for and that is why there has been such a comprehensive communications campaign to promote and raise awareness of this payment. I appreciate the Deputy's contribution and I will pass his comments on to the Minister.