Mr. R?n?n Hession:

I thank the members of the committee for the invitation to attend to discuss additional needs payments and the community welfare service. I am the assistant secretary general of the Department of Social Protection with responsibility for working age income supports, including supplementary welfare allowance and additional needs payments. I am joined by my colleagues Mr. Des Henry, who is the principal officer with policy responsibility in this area, and Mr. Noel Hand, the principal officer who leads our community welfare service.

The purpose of an additional needs payment is to assist with essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure that people could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. Additional needs payment is an overarching term used to refer to what committee members may also know as exceptional and urgent needs payments. The payment is not restricted to those already on a social welfare payment and may also be made available to those working on a low income. The budget for additional needs payments is demand-led and is not subject to an overall cap. The Government has provided €46 million for additional needs payments in 2022, which increased to €63.69 million under the Revised Estimates Volume.

By far the largest cost component relates to housing, particularly kit-outs for those in local authority accommodation. Housing accounts for 61% of our spend on additional needs payments this year. The next largest categories in terms of cost are funeral and burial expenses at 12% and clothing, which is largely Ukraine-related, at 10%. Heating costs account for around 3%.

Additional needs payments are administered by the Department’s community welfare service. Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme, taking into consideration the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case. This ensures the payments target those most in need of assistance. Local face-to-face engagement with customers continues to be a cornerstone of the community welfare service. This aspect of the service remains in place and will not change.

There is a community welfare officer presence in 50 Intreo centres nationwide, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. In addition, a part time service is provided at scheduled hours at a range of other locations. In locations where a community welfare officer is not on site, one can be available to attend within one hour of an emergency presenting. Throughout the country, community welfare officers remain available by appointment or can travel to meet customers as needed. This includes out-of-hours and weekends in emergency cases. However, a customer does not have to attend in person or travel to an office to submit an additional needs payment claim or to make an inquiry. If it is more convenient for them, customers can call our freefone line. Up to three quarters of the queries to our phone line resolve the customer’s issue without the need for an in-person meeting with a community welfare officer. The relevant forms are also available to download or can be posted to customers if that is easier for them. In addition, we are currently developing our IT system to facilitate online applications and expect this to become available in the new year.

There are 412 staff across all grades in the community welfare service. In light of the increased level of applications in 2022, we have secured agreement for 74 additional staff to be assigned to the community welfare service. This recruitment is under way and we expect the new staff to be in place in the first quarter of 2023. In the meantime, 30 social welfare inspectors have been temporarily reassigned to the community welfare service since the start of November to assist with claims processing.

In early September, rent supplement claim processing nationwide was consolidated into a central rents unit, releasing community welfare officers for reassignment to other duties, including the provision of a rapid response to increases in additional needs payment claim loads. In addition, we are in the process of establishing support hubs comprising clerical staff to undertake routine administrative tasks. This frees up community welfare officers to meet customers, process claims and respond to surges in the demand for the service. The hub structure also means community welfare officers are not dependent on a small number of clerical staff in their own local areas.

Additional needs payments have been an important part of our Department’s response to the challenges that arose in 2022. We have been centrally involved in providing support to those fleeing the war in Ukraine, providing 26,000 additional needs payments to this cohort in addition to the provision of ongoing social welfare payments. In response to cost-of-living pressures, we ran two advertising campaigns, in spring and autumn this year, to promote awareness of additional needs payments. These campaigns created significant spikes in claims at those times as public awareness of the scheme increased. While this concentration of demand within a short period of time draws on our resources, we think it is important we reach out to those who need our help.

Notwithstanding these pressure points, the majority of applications are finalised within a short time of being received by the Department. The number of claims on hand has fallen below 10,000. To put this in perspective, we are currently clearing just under 6,000 claims per week, with 3,500 new claims arriving per week. Where an application is taking longer to process, this is generally due to additional information or documentation being requested from the person to support the application. Where the person responds with the required information and documents, the application is finalised as promptly as possible.

While the composition of our claim load fluctuates, in general, 70% of claims take under four weeks. A further 25% are finalised between four and 12 weeks, with less than 5% taking longer than 12 weeks. It is important to note that not all additional needs payment claims involve an urgent need. Most claims relate to help with an upcoming expense. In cases where people have an immediate need, every effort is made to ensure they receive a payment on the same day. The committee might note that the number of emergency cases requiring immediate payment remains low.

We get regular queries about the statistics relating to our schemes and services, including additional needs payments. These queries typically request breakdowns regarding category, location, frequency distributions and volumes. Committee members should be aware that, in addition to our annual statistics report, we currently publish quarterly data on our main schemes and services on our website. More detailed information on community welfare services will, subject to system capacity and a robust verification process, be included in these quarterly publications in 2023. We also endeavour to respond to bespoke queries promptly, accurately and transparently. However, the generation of bespoke statistics involves some effort and draws staff away from the task of managing the service itself. We will nevertheless continue to respond to such requests where feasible.

I emphasise to the committee, to our customers and to our future customers that we are here to help. We aim to provide a discreet, sympathetic, consistent and responsive service. Our community welfare officers work hard to make sure people get the support they need, and I thank them for the important work they do and for their dedication. While there is pressure on the system, we are taking concrete steps to resource and improve the effectiveness of the service to our customers. We look forward to hearing the views of committee members and we are happy to help with any questions.