Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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238. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the amount of funding that has been allocated for exceptional needs payments in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; if her attention has been drawn to a problem which arises in isolated rural areas where persons are now being refused assistance for taxi fares for essential medical appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28213/14]

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 and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €31.3 million for the ENP scheme in 2014. Expenditure on the scheme from 2011 is provided in the attached tabular statement. There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. ENP’s 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. The ENP scheme is not intended to cover circumstances where responsibility for the expenditure or payment rests with another Government Department or Agency. Responsibility for patient transport is generally a matter for the Health Service Executive.

If the Deputy has a particular case of hardship, he should forward the details to the Department for review.

Expenditure on Exceptional Needs Payments from 2011-2013