Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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226. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if any payments have been made by his Department or agencies under his control since 2007 to provide foreign holidays for persons or families; if so, the way payments were made; the total amount spent to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28895/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €47.6 million for the scheme in 2013.

There is no automatic entitlement to a payment, or no predetermined amounts under the different categories for ENPs. Such payments are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance. Assistance for foreign holidays would not be considered an essential need under the scheme.