Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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617. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the exceptional needs payments allocated in 2017, by county. [4500/18]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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618. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is satisfied that the discretion of payment officers is practised with the same degree of latitude across all jurisdictions. [4501/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 617 and 618 together.

Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €36.4 million for the ENP scheme in 2018.

Over 103,400 ENPs issued during 2017 and the tabular statement below provides the number of payments by county.

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.

Departmental guidelines assist staff administering the scheme and have contributed to more streamlined and consistent approaches being taken to applications across the country, for example, with recommended maximum amounts payable for a variety of household and personal items. The guidelines do not affect the discretion available to officers in issuing an ENP to assist an individual or household in any particular hardship situation which may arise.

Any persons who consider that they have an entitlement to an exceptional payment should contact my Department’s Community Welfare Service.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Tabular Statement – ENP Payments by County in 2017