Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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259. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of exceptional needs payments made to persons or families in other than bereavement circumstances in each of the past five years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54425/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department can make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income.

Additional Needs Payments are an overarching term used to refer to Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments, and certain other Supplements available to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from a person’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.

Table 1 shows the Number of Additional Needs Payments, other than the Funeral Category and ongoing supplements, yearly from 2019 to end September 2023.

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 : Number of Additional Needs Payments, other than the Funeral Category and ongoing supplements, yearly from 2019 to end September 2023.