David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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747. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the Young Patients Family Fund that was launched by the Scottish government in July 2021; if he will give consideration to developing a similar scheme to support parents with children in hospital in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33603/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I can advise the Deputy that there are no specific proposals within my Department at present for the development of a scheme of financial assistance for parents  in the circumstances referred to by the Deputy.  However, under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, administered by the Department of Social Protection, a person may be eligible to apply for an Exceptional Needs Payment to help meet essential, one-off, exceptional expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.