Vol. 549 No. 3
325 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 852 of 30 January 2002, it is now the accepted policy of the community welfare officer acting on his behalf to refuse to make a payment in cases where a family member who cannot afford to, offers rent assistance in an emergency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6890/02]
The legislation governing the supplementary welfare allowance scheme makes provision for a health board 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 exceptional needs payments. Eligible people would normally be in receipt of a social welfare or health board payment. Exceptional needs payments are payable at the discretion of the health board taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case and neither I nor my Department has a function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.
The South-Western Area Health Board was again contacted on behalf of the couple in question and has confirmed that prior to making an application for rent supplement or an exceptional needs payment the couple had independently secured their current accommodation. They informed the community welfare officer that they had borrowed money from a family member to pay the deposit and the first month's rent.
As stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 852 which I answered for the Deputy on 30 January 2002, an exceptional needs payment was not considered appropriate in this case on the grounds that at the time of application the need had already been met. This decision is in line with the board's long standing policy in such circumstances.
