Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The supplementary welfare allowance is the fund or the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. It is a demand-led scheme so there is no limit on it. People get it as they need it. It provides once-off and regular support to those on low incomes having difficulty meeting household costs. In 2021, the Department paid €42.7 million in urgent and exceptional needs payments in respect of 55,000 claims. Approximately 92,200 payments were made in 2019 and 67,600 payments were made in 2020. It is there and it is available. I also commend the work of the community welfare officers. We all know them well in our constituencies. They provide an excellent service. They help people when they need it and they are only a telephone call away.

I am sorry there was a bad experience where somebody could not get through to the community welfare office, but if people call into the local Intreo office or email them they will be able to make contact with them. There are three ways to do it. The telephone is probably the easiest way. There is also the in-person way and the officers will do house visits if necessary. I know they were in the HSE and that they moved to the Department of Social Protection. We want to support that service because it is essential. It is important that it continues and that it is there to provide help to people.

In terms of the details, we gave an additional lump sum payment of €125. That will be paid to all households in receipt of the fuel allowance. It is expected that this additional lump sum will be paid in early March, at an estimated cost of €49 million. The lump sum payment, in addition to the measures announced in budget 2022, will mean that low-income households will get an increase of 41% this fuel allowance season compared to the previous season. A further measure to help with energy costs is the energy credit of €200 to be applied to electricity accounts for all householders. The introduction of the €10 increase to the weekly income threshold of the working family payment will be brought forward to early April this year. It was supposed to apply in June so we have brought it forward. For those on low wages in receipt of more than a minimum payment on the working family payment the €10 increase in all earnings thresholds will result in an increased payment of €6. All these measures are in addition to the wide-sweeping measures in budget 2022, which was the largest social welfare budget in 14 years. Not only did we do an across-the-board increase of €5, we also did the targeted measures in the fuel allowance, the living alone allowance and the qualified child payments among a number of other payments.

We would always like to do more. We make these decisions and the pot of funds is limited. We do not have an endless pot. However, we continue to try to target it at those most vulnerable and most in need.