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

I thank the Deputy for raising this. Additional needs payments are intended to assist people with essential once-off exceptional expenditure that a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. In 2022 to the end of September almost 66,000 applications for additional needs payments were processed and awarded. This is an increase of just under 60% on 2021 figures. This rise in the number of applications reflects in part the positive measures the Department has implemented, including two major advertising campaigns to increase awareness of the payments.

In the region of 63% of all applications are being finalised within four weeks. As part of the decision process there is a need to verify household income and expenditure and assess whether the expenditure in respect of which the additional needs payment is requested is essential. Where an application is complete and accompanied by the required documentation it is generally processed in a matter of days. However, when an application is not finalised within this timeframe the delay is generally due to additional information or documentation being requested from the person to support the application. It is important to note that where my officials are aware that a client has an urgent or immediate need every effort is made to ensure the person in question receives a prompt service, usually on the same day.

The Department has taken a number of steps to increase service capacity, including the introduction of a national community welfare service freephone line. This means clients do not have to attend an office in person to make a claim. It has rostered staff to ensure there is a full-time community welfare officer present in all of our 50 offices nationwide. It has established a back office support team to take on the more routine administrative tasks associated with claim processing. This means front-line staff can be freed up and it allows community welfare officers to deal directly with customers and their claims. In addition, the Department is well advanced on the development of an online claim option.

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