Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons that have applied for an exceptional needs payment to date in 2017, in tabular form; the number that have been awarded a payment; the number that have been refused a payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11314/17]

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 €31.5 million for exceptional needs payments (ENPs) and urgent needs payments (UNPs) in 2017.

There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. 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.

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. There have been 15,100 ENP payments made to 25 February 2017.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.