Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

386. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applications for additional needs and exceptional needs payments, by county, in 2022; and the number of applications awarded, in tabular form, and the average time of a decision. [2718/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Community Welfare Service is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.

Where it is clear that a person has an urgent or immediate need, every effort is made to ensure that the claim is processed on the same day. Community Welfare Officers are very experienced and can generally assess when a case is so urgent that it requires an immediate response. Approximately 10% of CWS payments to customers across the country are made on this basis, which shows just how responsive the service is to an urgent customer need.

The majority of applications are finalised within two weeks of receipt of a completed application form and the necessary documentation.

The following is a table of ANPs registered by county in 2022:

I trust this clarifies the matter.