Written answers

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Department of Social Protection

Supplementary Welfare Allowance Applications

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on supplementary welfare allowance (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41436/12]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that, subject to qualifying conditions, it provides assistance to any persons in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. There are approximately 33,500 customers in receipt of a basic weekly SWA payment for which the Government has provided €160 million in 2012.


Basic weekly SWA payments are generally paid to customers who are awaiting a decision, or a decision following an appeal for a social welfare payment, or to those who do not qualify for payment under other State schemes. While it was never the intention that basic SWA would be paid on a longer term basis there are approximately 9,600 customers in receipt of the payment for more than one year. Customers in this category include asylum seekers who do not have access to primary social welfare payments or those who are ill but do not qualify for a payment under the Department’s primary illness related schemes. There is no basis in social welfare legislation to deem this scheme as a long term payment for recipients of the payment for periods in excess of one year.

A key objective of the transfer of the Community Welfare Service from the Health Service Executive to my Department on 1 October 2011 was to provide a streamlined, consistent and enhanced service to the customer. This should, over time, reduce recourse to basic SWA.


The process of integration is on-going and significant progress has already been made with a unified service, the National Employment and Entitlements Service, now in the process of being delivered in four offices.

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