Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the state whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents. Supports provided under the SWA scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single Exceptional Needs Payments (ENPs) and Urgent Needs Payments (UNPs).

The weekly SWA payment provides immediate assistance for those in need who are awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment or do not qualify for payment under other state schemes. Applications made under the SWA Scheme are administered by Designated Persons (DP) in the Community Welfare Service in my Department.

As outlined in a previous reply, Departmental records reflect that the person concerned applied for a weekly SWA payment with effect from 14/04/2022. A DP made a home visit to the person concerned on 27/04/2022 to help progress his application. In the course of the meeting the person concerned was asked to provide certain information in support of his application. As some of the requested information remained outstanding, the application could not be progressed. The DP decided the person was not entitled to a SWA payment on the grounds he had failed to provide the following information:

- A copy of document from the Department of Justice outlining the conditions relating to the person’s permission to reside in the state.

- Proof of means while in Ireland.

- Lease agreement.

Part of the difficulty in establishing eligibility for assistance from this Department is the lack of clarity around the status of the person concerned in this country and a letter from the Department of Justice outlining his status would provide that clarity.

If the person concerned is not satisfied with this decision, he can send in any facts or evidence to my Department and a DP will review the decision. The person can also appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.

It is open to the person concerned to make a new application for SWA including all the necessary information with his application. A valid Department of Justice status permit or letter must be provided with the new application as failure to supply evidence of permission to reside in the state may result in refusal as the person will not satisfy the Habitual Residence Conditions (HRC).

It is open to the person concerned to apply for an ENP if he is experiencing financial hardship. The purpose of the ENP is to assist people with essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.

The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme considering 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.

An application for an ENP has been sent to the person concerned. An ENP application form can also be downloaded from gov.ie. When the completed application and supporting information is received, it will be assessed, and the person concerned will be advised of the outcome in writing.

I trust this clarifies the matter.