Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, for coming to the House to deal with this issue, which relates to two very sad cases that occurred around the same time. It involves the death of two people, one after a very lengthy illness, following which the household was left with various financial and other difficulties. However, I do not propose to go into those details in this public arena. The second case involves the death of a young child in equally tragic circumstances. In this case, the parents, who had been employed up to a year ago, did not have the resources to meet the cost of the child's funeral. Previously, such people would have been entitled to a bereavement grant. The bereavement grant has been replaced by the exceptional needs payment, which has the capacity to address individual household cases in terms of assistance required.

In the first case, a payment was made but it was insufficient to meet the cost of the funeral expenses. As we all know, funeral expenses are considerable, and hugely so for families in financial difficulty, particularly following a period of long illness prior to death. In both cases a payment was made, and in both cases it was insufficient. I discussed these cases on a number of occasions with a very helpful person in the Department, following which further payments were made, but, again, these were far short of what was required in terms of addressing the issue. In an effort to have this issue addressed, I have raised it by way of parliamentary question on a number of occasions. Sadly, it has not been addressed. To my mind, it reflects poorly on the institutions of this State that we are not in a position to respond in the way that we should. I am not suggesting that everybody should get full payment of their funeral costs. The cases I am highlighting involved particularly extenuating circumstances, which were clear to everybody. Even a cursory examination of the means of the households in question would lead to the conclusion that close to the maximum payment would be necessary. However, this did not happen. The neighbours then had to rally round and organise events to help out. Good neighbours are greatly appreciated and this type of activity should be always encouraged. Those involved did a great job. However, I would not like to see this happen again.

I am asking today that the two cases I have highlighted be reviewed with a view to ensuring some semblance of parity with the funeral costs involved and that in future such cases only one visit would be required to allow assessment for payment, thereby reducing the cost to the State in terms of administration.

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