Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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789. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which HAS1 payment rates are decided; the amount allocated per household member, per day of being without power and water in cases where receipts were not available; the average HAS1 payment made per week between the week ending on 7 May 2025 to week ending 2 May 2025, in tabular form. [23223/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, administered by my department through the local Community Welfare Services (CWS) was activated on Thursday 23 January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn.

The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme is operated in 3 stages.

Stage 1 of the scheme is to address hardship in the immediate aftermath of a severe weather event and provides emergency support payments to cover food and other essential costs. This stage of humanitarian assistance is to help people with the essentials of life – food, water, shelter and warmth.

The majority of payments made to people to date as a result of Storm Éowyn have been to meet the additional cost of feeding their families in the immediate aftermath of the storm where people remained without power and/or water. The scheme does not provide a general compensation payment for damage or losses incurred as a consequence of a weather event.

Payments to meet the additional cost of food in the immediate aftermath of the storm where people remained without power and/or water are made per household at the following weekly rates:

Variations in payment awards can be attributed to the variety of claims received. Every individual application is assessed based on the information provided by the applicant in relation to their household composition, the length of time they were without power, and details of any additional costs (other than food) incurred. The amount an individual person receives depends on their individual circumstances and the eligibility of their request under HAS.

Nationally, just over €10.7 million has been awarded to date in respect of Storm Éowyn related claims. The average HAS1 payment made per week between the week ending on 7/2/2025 to week ending 2/5/2025 are provided in tabular format below:

I trust this clarifies the matter.