Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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192. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the financial assistance available from her Department for assistance with substantial arrears of household energy bills (details supplied). [27712/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There is a range of supports provided by the Community Welfare Service (CWS) under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme. These supports can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single Additional Needs Payments (ANPs).

My Department may make an ANP to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income. This is an overarching term used to refer to Exceptional Needs Payments (ENPs) and Urgent Needs Payments (UNPs), and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from a person’s own resources, and which are deemed to be necessary. ANPs are administered by Designated Persons (DP) in the CWS considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.

Departmental records show that the persons concerned have not made a recent application for assistance under the SWA scheme. If the persons concerned are experiencing financial difficulties, they can apply for assistance by completing a SWA1 form and providing all relevant documents in support of their application. For convenience, an application pack has been posted to persons' home address. On receipt of a completed application form and supporting documentation, the claim will be assessed, and the persons concerned will be advised of the outcome in writing. Alternatively, if the persons concerned have a verified MyGovID account they can apply for an ANP at www.MyWelfare.ie.

Further information on all of my Department’s schemes and payments is available at www.gov.ie.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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193. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons over 65 years-of-age that applied for the training support grant; how many were approved, by county for the years 2023 to date, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27770/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Training Support Grant is designed to fund quick access to short term training that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities. The grant can be provided where an immediate skills gap is identified that presents an obstacle to taking up a job offer or accessing other opportunities.

The primary focus of the scheme is to support those in receipt of a jobseekers' payment as part of the activation policy of the Department. The grant is also available for individuals in receipt of other working age payments such as Disability Allowance or One Parent Family Payment who may be looking to up-skill when seeking employment.

The Department does not maintain statistics of the age of applicants for the Training Support Grant.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy at this time.