Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €30.3 million for the ENP scheme in 2016.
There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.
In 2016 to date, some 84,000 payments have issued in respect of ENPs at a cost of €29 million. Examples of the main types of needs that are met under the scheme include assistance towards new accommodation kit-outs, the purchase of household appliances, rent deposits, funeral and burial expenses, assistance with travel costs, clothing & child related items such as cots and prams.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.