Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 338: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will confirm if she carried out poverty-proofing before deciding to cut emergency needs payment to those on low-incomes as contained in a recent circular to community welfare officers; if she will review this decision as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7986/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. These ENP payments are a vital component of the SWA scheme and link the income support function of the scheme with the wider welfare role of the Department's community welfare service.

There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. ENP's are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.

A review of the guidelines on Exceptional Needs Payments is currently being finalised in the Department by a group made up of former community welfare service staff. One of the recommendations emanating from this review was the need to address the different approaches taken, in different areas, in relation to the payment of exceptional needs payments in respect of religious ceremonies and to ensure that the SWA scheme is responding to a specific financial need and not to the occasion. The Department has not cut payments in respect of religious ceremonies but has recommended a maximum amount payable with a view to limiting any such payments to those cases of significant hardship. The Department's circular does not remove or limit the discretionary powers provided to its designated officers in Social Welfare legislation to help individuals in need.

The Department also recently clarified the circumstances under which payments should be made toward the furnishing of local authority accommodation. This clarification will not impact the customer in any way. Instead of the Department furnishing these units it will, in certain circumstances, become the responsibility of the local authority to ensure the accommodation is furnished before allocating the accommodation to the tenant.

One of the most important aspects of a poverty proofing strategy is the process whereby Government Departments, local authorities and state agencies ensure that they either contribute to reducing poverty or, at least, do not increase poverty. An additional prime consideration is the re-focusing of expenditure to meet those most in need and this is what my Department is doing.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 339: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of exceptional needs applications for first communion support that have been received from County Donegal over recent years; and the number of these that were successful. [7990/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. These ENP payments are a vital component of the SWA scheme and link the income support function of the scheme with the wider welfare role of the Department's community welfare service.

There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. ENP's are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.

A review of the guidelines on Exceptional Needs Payments is currently being finalised in the Department by a group made up of former community welfare service staff. One of the recommendations emanating from this review was the need to address the different approaches taken, in different areas, in relation to the payment of exceptional needs payments in respect of religious ceremonies and to ensure that the SWA scheme is responding to a specific financial need and not to the occasion.

The Department recently recommended to staff that a maximum payment of €110 be made in respect of the religious ceremony (mainly Communions and Confirmations). This will be the first step towards limiting these payments to cases of significant hardship only, in 2013. While the Department does not maintain records of the number of applications received for support for religious ceremonies it is clear that the number of such payments in Donegal was at the lower end of the scale at less than ten payments made in 2011.