Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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36. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to reform the operation of the exceptional needs payment in view of concerns that have been raised regarding access to the payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19175/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Provision of a prompt service is a major objective for the Department, especially for the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme which is the safety net within the social welfare system. The Deputy will be aware that my Department has re-engineered its business model to support the provision of integrated services across all business streams involved in the delivery of localised services. As part of this strategy, the Department is engaged in the delivery of integrated Intreo centres, which provide a full range of services, including the Community Welfare Service (CWS), generally available in one location. 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 over €36 million for exceptional payments in 2018. 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. ENP applications are examined promptly by the Department given the nature and sometimes urgency of the need presented.

I can assure the Deputy that the ENP scheme is kept under review to ensure that it continues to support those most in need of assistance. If the Deputy has concerns in respect of a particular case or aspect of the scheme he should bring the details to the attention of the Department.

I trust this clarifies the matter.