Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

The Government recognises the devastation suffered by people in many areas as a result of the recent floods. Community welfare service staff throughout the country have been providing huge support to families every day since the flooding occurred. They have already provided emergency financial and other assistance to households affected by the flooding to cover items such as clothing, food, bedding, heating, hire of dehumidifiers and emergency accommodation needs. Community welfare officers have made more than 470 initial emergency payments to people in areas impacted by flooding, including 200 payments made in Cork. The average payment made was €300. Officers will continue to make these payments as long as there is a requirement to do so.

In addition to this, a humanitarian assistance scheme is being set up to provide means tested financial support to people who have suffered damage to their homes. An initial sum of €10 million has been set aside by the Government for this purpose. As the flood waters abate and people assess the full extent of the damage to their homes, qualified households can claim for essential household items such as carpets, flooring, furniture and white goods. Assistance will also be available for structural repairs to homes not covered by household insurance.

Humanitarian assistance is not an alternative to insurance in cases where household insurance was available on a reasonable basis. However, where insurance cover is not available because of previous flooding claims, a person may claim humanitarian assistance. All of the main insurance companies have 24 hour, seven day a week dedicated phone help lines in place to assist people to make claims under their household insurance policies. Depending on the nature of the insurance policy held, some companies may make advance payments to help people replace their most important belongings immediately. Insurance companies have undertaken to process claims as quickly as possible. The costs of medical treatment and supplies may also be considered in determining assistance where medical cover is not already in place through private health insurance or medical card.

The level of payment available under the aid scheme to any qualified individual will depend on the severity of the damage to that person's home and the extent of the loss experienced, as well as household income and general family circumstances. The scheme will provide hardship alleviation as opposed to full compensation. As on previous occasions, commercial or business losses will not be covered by the scheme nor will losses which are covered by household insurance.

Applications under the scheme will be means tested to ensure that available assistance will be prioritised for those who are most vulnerable. It will not cover damage to private rented accommodation or local authority accommodation, though humanitarian assistance may be considered in the case of a tenant's personal belongings.

The basic principle of the means test will be to determine the household's capacity to meet the costs of restoring the home to a habitable condition. All household income will be considered when determining entitlement to a payment. However, account will be taken of outgoings such as rent or mortgage payments, other loans and travel to work costs.

In addition to the means test, other factors will also be considered by the community welfare service in assessing individual applications, including whether the applicant is or was homeless as a result of the flooding, the age profile of family members, including babies, young children or elderly persons, the availability of support from the wider family and the special needs that people may have as a result of illness or disability.

People seeking assistance should contact their local community welfare office. Further information and applications forms in regard to the humanitarian assistance scheme are available from the community welfare service in the affected areas and from the Department's website, www.welfare.ie, and the HSE's website, www.hse.ie. While this scheme is not intended to provide full compensation for all losses and damage it will go towards alleviating the hardship which many hundreds of families have had to endure.

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