Legislation governing the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department allows health boards to make a single payment to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. These payments are known as exceptional needs payments. There is no automatic entitlement to an ENP. Payment of ENPs are made at the discretion of the health boards and neither I nor my Department have any function in deciding individual cases.
ENPs are normally made to people in receipt of social welfare or health board payments. Health boards recognise that confirmation and communion times involve families in additional expense and all boards assist with such costs under this provision. Health boards decide each application on its merits having regard to the income and circumstances of the applicant.