John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 352: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will review the application for supplementary welfare allowance for a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if he will grant the assistance applied for to cover the specific timeframe involved while the family settle their extremely difficult separation arrangements in the interests of their spouse and children. [8956/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for exceptional needs payments to assist with essential once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her household income or other resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is determined by the executive based on the particular circumstances of the case. Exceptional needs payments are subject to a means test. Eligible people would normally be in receipt of a social welfare or health service executive payment.

The south-eastern area of the Health Service Executive has advised that an application for an exceptional needs payment was made by the Deputy on behalf of the person concerned on 16 February 2006. The application was refused by the executive on the grounds that the person concerned is in full-time employment and that the household income was deemed sufficient to meet expenditure needs. It is open to the person concerned to appeal this decision to the designated appeals officer of the executive.