I understand that the report in question has been prepared by Mayo County Council. It has not been forwarded to me. I have, however, requested that a copy be provided to my Department.
In the interim, I wish to advise the Deputy that, under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department, a health board may make a single payment, known as an exceptional needs payment, to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. The scheme also provides for the issuing of urgent needs payments to people who would not normally qualify for supplementary welfare allowance.