Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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46. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the case of a person (details supplied) whose payment was cut off and who is now relying on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for financial assistance; and the reason the deciding officer has advised the community welfare officers to refuse the person any payment or exceptional needs payments. [22708/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The person in question was requested by a Social Welfare Inspector to submit documentation in relation to her ongoing entitlement to her one parent family payment; she was also advised that failure to submit this information would affect her ongoing entitlement to a payment. The documentation was not submitted and her payment was terminated.

Her entitlement to a payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme was then considered by another officer of the Department having regard to all of the facts of the case and on the basis of legislation for this scheme. She was refused a basic supplementary welfare allowance payment as she had failed to supply information to the Department thus depriving herself of an income. While no claim for an exceptional needs payment was made the person in question was advised that the purpose of such payments was to meet essential, once-off, unforeseen exceptional spending that a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.