Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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485. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of exceptional needs payments paid out over the past three years, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8724/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make Additional Needs Payments to 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 considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case 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 available on the number of Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments made in 2020-2021, but not on the number of supplements awarded.

Table 1, as follows, provides a breakdown of the number of Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments claims awarded in 2020 and 2021 and the number of Additional Needs Payments awarded in 2022, by county.

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.

Table 1 - The number of Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments claims awarded in 2020 and 2021 and the number of Additional Needs Payments awarded in 2022, by county.