Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

363. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the amount of money paid out under the humanitarian assistance scheme per annum from 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16530/17]

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

364. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting times for payment under the humanitarian assistance scheme in 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16531/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 363 and 364 together.

The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government is the lead Department for severe weather emergencies and the Office of Public Works (OPW) has responsibility for capital flood relief activities. However, my Department has an important role to play in assisting households in the immediate aftermath of emergency events such as flooding.

The purpose of the humanitarian assistance scheme is to prevent hardship by providing income tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged from flooding and severe weather events and who are not in a position to meet costs for essential needs, household items and in some instances structural repair.

Expenditure under the scheme for the period from 2010 to 2016 is some €5 million and a yearly breakdown of this expenditure is provided in the attached tabular statement. Expenditure to date in 2017 is €85,500. There was expenditure of some €2 million to assist householders affected following the flooding in the 2015/16 winter, which was the wettest winter ever recorded in Ireland.

Following a severe weather event staff, in my Department’s Community Welfare Service, closely monitor the situation on the ground and engage with the relevant local authorities and other agencies to ensure supports are provided to those affected as swiftly as possible. Emergency income support payments to cover essential items such as food, clothing and personal items are quickly issued in the immediate aftermath of the event. Financial supports towards the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items may take longer as it is not until the flood water abates and houses dry out that the full extent of the damage to homes will become known. The longer term financial support covers necessary remedial works and can include plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, electrical re-wiring and painting. It could take several months before this stage of the response is completed and final payments issue. Statistics are not maintained on the average waiting times for payment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Expenditure under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme 2010 - 2016

1. Provisional Outturn