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

We had a major national campaign last year to promote and raise awareness of additional needs payments. There were adverts on the radio and in the newspapers, and there was also an extensive social media campaign. We made a number of changes to simplify the process and make it easier for people to apply, and I am pleased to inform the House we recently introduced an online application process for additional needs payments. A number of Deputies had been asking for that and I am glad it is now in place. On top of that, our team of community welfare officers, CWOs, is based in more than 50 Intreo offices. They are there every week, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so people can call in to them. There is also a national phoneline people can call to get in touch with their local community welfare officer, who can then arrange to meet them in person by appointment or even arrange to visit their house, if appropriate.

In fairness, I tried this out myself this evening. I googled "support for funeral costs" and one of the very first results related to information on additional needs payments and how to apply, and it showed that the SWA5 is the form that needs to be completed. I am happy to get the news out there.

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