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

I thank the Deputy. I have been in politics for almost 20 years. I have always dealt with local CWOs and to be fair to them they have always done their very best to help people. They give a good service. The delivery of this service is a priority for me and my Department. As of October, more than 75,000 applications for additional needs payments had been processed and awarded. This represents a 63% increase in awarded applications compared to the same period in 2021. As the Deputy will be aware, we had a major communications campaign to raise awareness of the additional needs payment. I believe that campaign has worked. We know this because the numbers applying have increased.

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