Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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511. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the breakdown of exceptional needs payments under the supplementary welfare allowance paid in each month; the total and individual value of each payment; and the total expenditure by category and month from January 2021 to September 2022, inclusive in tabular form. [50090/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make additional needs payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the customer’s own resources and which are deemed to be necessary.

The schemes are 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.

While it is not possible to show the payment value for each individual Exceptional Needs Payment (ENPs) and Urgent Needs Payment (UNPs) paid for the months in question, tables 1 and 2 show the breakdown by category of the number and total expenditure of ENPs and UNPs paid in each of the months for January 2021 to end of September 2022.

Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to an additional needs payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Tabular Statement

Table 1 - The number by category of ENPs and UNPs paid for January 2021 to end of September 2022

Table 2 - The total expenditure by category of ENPs and UNPs paid for January 2021 to end of September 2022

Note: These figures are taken from the Department's ENP/UNP database and represent a snapshot of ENPs/UNPs as they are approved by an officer rather than when they are paid. The figures do not capture payments that are cancelled, payments that go out of date or overpayments recouped and therefore will not reconcile with the end of year outturn figures.