Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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53. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans to direct community welfare officers to issue payments in relation to exceptional needs grants to assist with funeral costs directly to those who provided the relevant service to the bereaved family, for example an undertaker, the local authority and so on, rather than to the family; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32512/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department of Social Protection 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 €29 million for the ENP scheme in 2015.

An application can be made under the ENP scheme for assistance with funeral and burial expenses. Social welfare regulations provide for the payment of SWA to a nominated payee with the written consent of the applicant. In 2015, the Department has supported approximately 2,000 applicants with financial assistance towards these funeral and burial expenses, at a cost of some €3.3 million. Department records show that approximately 80% of these ENPs were nominated to a third party, primarily the funeral director.

It is not proposed to issue a direction to staff that all payments in these categories be made directly to the service provider. Each application is decided on the basis of the circumstances presented and payments are made to a third party with the consent of the applicant.