Vol. 473 No. 3
193 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give a monthly breakdown of the number of persons in receipt of a supplementary welfare allowance; and the total cost of the allowance in each of the years 1995 and 1996. [24975/96]
The main purpose of the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme is to provide a basic minimum weekly payment to people who have little or no income. In addition people with low incomes may also qualify for a weekly supplement to meet certain special needs, e.g. rent and mortgage interest payments or a payment to help with the cost of any exceptional needs they may have.
As it is possible for a person to qualify for more than one SWA payment, for example, a basic payment and a supplement, allowances have been made in the compilation of the data to reduce the possibility of double counting in the figures supplied in the following tabular statements:
Year 1995.
|
Month |
Cases |
Expenditure |
|
£ |
||
|
January |
65,378 |
9,658,879 |
|
February |
65,866 |
9,101,307 |
|
March |
67,564 |
9,921,916 |
|
April |
63,491 |
8,894,185 |
|
May |
65,015 |
10,005,087 |
|
June |
63,343 |
9,334,990 |
|
July |
68,733 |
10,475,024 |
|
August |
66,572 |
10,397,165 |
|
September |
56,211 |
8,278,622 |
|
October |
64,644 |
9,991,505 |
|
November |
65,222 |
10,523,494 |
|
December |
55,618 |
9,524,123 |
|
Total |
116,106,297 |
|
Month |
Cases |
Expenditure |
|
January |
64,875 |
10,193,090 |
|
February |
65,746 |
9,721,185 |
|
March |
64,851 |
9,507,312 |
|
April |
65,651 |
10,452,202 |
|
May |
64,809 |
10,337,365 |
|
June |
61,398 |
9,424,191 |
|
July |
66,401 |
11,240,328 |
|
August |
61,895 |
9,971,447 |
|
Total |
(Jan.-Aug. only) |
80,847,120 |
