Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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469. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on an application for an exceptional needs payment by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26072/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of the ENP is to assist people with essential expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their available resources.

The ENP scheme is 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. Applications for ENPs are made under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme administered by Designated Persons in the Community Welfare Service (CWS) in the Department.

On 18/05/2023 the person concerned applied for an ENP for assistance with utility bills. A request for further information subsequently issued to the person from the CWS. Part of this additional information was received by the Department on 25/05/2023.

A letter has issued to the person concerned on 29/05/2023, requesting a credit union statement be provided. When this statement is received, the claim will be assessed promptly and the person will be informed of the outcome in writing.

I trust this clarifies the matter.