Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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398. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of urgent needs payment applications, by category, in Cork, and the number refused, in each of the years 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [6731/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make additional needs payments to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the customer’s own resources, and which are deemed to be necessary. 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.

The reporting of the schemes was revised in 2022 to extract more complete information. Statistics are not available on applications received or disallowed for 2021.

Table 1 shows the number of Additional Needs Payments registered and disallowed by category in Co Cork in 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.

Table 1 - The number of Additional Needs Payments registered and disallowed by category in Co Cork in 2022.