Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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139. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of exceptional needs payments made; the most quoted reason for seeking a payment; and the extent to which applications were favourably considered by month in each of the years 2014 and 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12463/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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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 €30.3 million for the ENP scheme in 2016.

The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made 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 largest numbers of payments are made in the categories of housing kit-outs, and clothing (27,100 and 19,100 in 2015 respectively) and also in relation to travel costs (15,200 in 2015).

Statistics are maintained relating to payments under the ENP scheme, however they are not maintained on the number of applications or the outcome of those applications. The number of ENPs made on a monthly basis in each of the past two years to date is contained in the following table. For reporting purposes this data includes numbers of urgent needs payments (UNP). A UNP is a once-off payment made to persons who would not normally qualify for SWA but who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources or an alternative is not available at that time.

Number of Exceptional Needs Payments and Urgent Needs Payments in each month for the past two years to date: