Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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513. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount spent on funeral costs under the supplementary welfare allowance for the years 2016 to 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and the average cost of funerals. [25018/23]

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 essential 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.

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.

An application can be made under the scheme for assistance with funeral and burial expenses where there is an inability to pay these costs, in part or in full, by the family of the deceased person without causing hardship.

Table 1 provide details of expenditure under the Additional Needs Payments scheme in relation to assistance for funeral and burial costs for the years 2016 to 2023. The average payment amount in 2022 was approximately €2,500. The payment amount, which can have a wide range value, will depend on a applicant’s weekly household income, their savings and investments, their outgoings and the type of assistance needed.

I encourage any person who considers they may have an entitlement 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 -Expenditure under the Additional Needs Payments scheme in relation to assistance for funeral and burial costs for the years 2016 to 2023.