Written answers

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

International Agreements

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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33. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the actions her Department has taken to allow for the implementation of the Istanbul convention; if her Department has any engagement with the Department of Justice and Equality on this matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48578/14]

Photo of Kevin HumphreysKevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Officials in the Department have engaged with COSC, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence in relation to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).

In terms of income support, the Department provides a range of income supports including the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme which is considered the "safety net" within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need. Entitlement to SWA is conditional on satisfying the habitual residence condition with some exceptions. The Government has provided approximately €561 million for the various SWA schemes in 2014.

Where a claimant’s safety and wellbeing are at risk due to domestic violence Department officials administering the SWA scheme have discretionary powers to expedite the award of a payment to the person in question.

Under the SWA scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment 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 scheme also provides for the payment of urgent needs payments. Exceptional and urgent needs payments, unlike other payments under SWA, are not subject to the habitual residence condition. There is no automatic entitlement to an exceptional or urgent needs payment which 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.

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