Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The €10 million is there, if there is a legitimate case for it.

The largest payment to an individual was in excess of €20,000. Most of these payments have been in respect of immediate needs, such as clothing, food, bedding and emergency accommodation. The community welfare service will continue to make these payments as long as they are needed. Such emergency payments under the humanitarian assistance scheme are made without delay and without regard to the household income, as the primary objective of that type of payment is to address the person's immediate needs.

Payments have also been made in respect of essential household items such as carpets, flooring, furniture and white goods. Payments in respect of longer-term needs, such as meeting the cost of repairing homes and making them habitable again, take somewhat longer as homeowners must first establish the cost of repair, which explains the small amount of money paid out to date. Homeowners and builders are not in a position to do this in the immediate aftermath of a flood for practical reasons and, consequently, relatively few large-scale claims have been made at this stage. However, with the passage of time, individuals are now in a better position to assess the extent of the damage to their homes and, consequently, it is expected that more large-scale claims will be received over the coming weeks. As homeowners establish the cost of repair by securing builders' estimates, the extent of the loss is verified, usually by a loss assessor in cases where significant amounts are claimed, and details of the amounts that can be provided under the humanitarian assistance scheme are then sent to the homeowners in question.

While the timescale for determining applications for humanitarian assistance claims is dependant, among other things, on the availability of the required information, there is no backlog of undecided claims. According to the information available from the HSE, there are fewer than 50 applications currently being assessed and only four claims refused, none of which was because of household income.

The level of payment available under the aid scheme to any qualified individual depends 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 provides hardship alleviation as opposed to full compensation. As on previous occasions, commercial or business losses are not covered by the scheme, nor are losses which are covered by household insurance. Applications under the scheme are being income tested to ensure that available assistance is prioritised for those who are most vulnerable. The basic objective of the income test is to determine the household's capacity to meet the costs of restoring the home to a habitable condition, with an underlying principle that individuals and families with average levels of income will qualify for assistance.

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