Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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158. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the procedure to be followed to obtain an exceptional needs payment in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47238/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A claim for assistance with funeral expenses under the social welfare allowance scheme is treated as a claim for an exceptional needs payment. The Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, Section 201 provides the legal basis for exceptional needs payments. Entitlement to an exceptional needs payment for funeral expenses is discretionary. The primary consideration in determining that a payment is warranted is that there is an inability to pay the costs, in part or in full, by the family of the deceased person without causing hardship.

A designated person of my Department will examine and establish the circumstances of the person applying for assistance, the circumstances of that person’s household, the circumstances of the deceased and the ability of other members of the family to meet, or contribute to, the cost involved. The designated person will seek to establish whether the deceased had funds by way of savings, insurance policies, bereavement grants, credit union savings, etc, to meet the burial costs; whether the bill, or a portion of it, has been paid; whether the deceased left property (apart from the home in which the applicant resides) that would render the applicant or anybody else liable for the burial cost; whether a bereavement grant is available from any source (e.g. former employer, credit union, trade union etc.) and whether funds are available from any other source to meet the funeral cost.