Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 381: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will made on an application for supplementary welfare allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37245/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA) is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Apart from a number of excluded categories, anyone in the State who satisfies a habitual residency condition (HRC) and a means test, has registered for employment, unless they have a physical or mental disability, and can prove unemployment may qualify for a weekly payment of SWA.

However, subject to the provisions of EU law which apply to EEA workers, SWA cannot at any time be viewed as a temporary or interim means of income support available independently of HRC, while an applicant awaits the outcome of either a decision - or an appeal against a decision - on a claim for a social welfare payment from the Department.

The HSE has advised that the person concerned applied for SWA in May 2010 but his application was refused, as in the opinion of the HSE, the person concerned was deemed not to be habitually resident based on an assessment of his particular circumstances.

The HSE further advised that the person concerned appealed the decision to the HSE Appeals Office in June 2010. The Appeals Office upheld the decision to refuse SWA on the basis that the person concerned could not prove habitual residency. An appeal by the person concerned was forwarded to the Social Welfare Appeals Office in August 2010. Every effort is being made to have this appeal determined as quickly as possible.