Martin Ferris
Question:113 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17542/04]
View answerTuesday, 15 June 2004
Questions (65)
Written answers
The objective of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, is to provide assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their basic needs.
In addition to a basic weekly allowance, assistance may be provided in the form of supplements which may be paid in respect of needs such as rent, mortgage interest, diet or special heating requirements or in any other case where it appears to the board that the circumstances of the case so warrant. A single payment to meet an exceptional need as well as payments in urgent cases can also be made. There is no automatic right of entitlement to an exceptional need or urgent payment. Such payments are made at the discretion of the health board taking into account all of the circumstances of a case.
The number of recipients of basic supplementary welfare allowance on 4 June 2004 was 29,893. Rent supplements are paid to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs. Rent supplements are subject to a means test and are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her family circumstances, less a minimum contribution of €13 which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. The number of recipients of rent supplement is approximately 58,000.
Mortgage interest supplements are paid in respect of the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only. There are some 3,600 recipients of mortgage interest supplement. Recipients of social welfare or health board payments who have been prescribed a special diet as a result of a specified medical condition may also qualify for a diet supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. There are some 13,000 recipients of diet supplement. A heating supplement is a payment made to a person whose means are insufficient to meet the cost of exceptional heating needs. There are some 3,000 recipients of heating supplements.
Health boards also have the power to award a supplement in any other case where it appears to the board that the circumstances of the case so warrant. The number of recipients of other supplements is approximately 5,500. Under the SWA scheme, a health board may issue payments in urgent cases and to meet an exceptional once-off need which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. These payments are known as exceptional and urgent needs payments. There were some 4,500 such payments at the beginning of June 2004. Depending on his or her individual circumstances, a person could receive two or more types of supplementary welfare allowance at any given time. For example, about 13,000 people who receive a basic weekly allowance also receive a rent supplement. In total more than 100,000 people receive a supplementary welfare allowance payment in any given week.