Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 November 2017
50. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the procedures in place for homeless persons in need of social welfare assistance in cases in which they are unable to provide an address; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50584/17]
View answerI was looking to come in on the previous question but I will put my question instead. What provision is in place for people who are homeless to access social welfare payments such as jobseeker's benefits or any other entitlements?
Under the social welfare system, homeless people have entitlements to the full range of social welfare schemes, including supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, subject to the normal qualifying conditions. The SWA can be paid while a person is awaiting the decision on another payment, for example, disability allowance or jobseeker's allowance. People who are unable to provide evidence of address can access the basic SWA during the period when they engage with homeless services and seek to stabilise their situation.
In Dublin, where the homelessness situation is probably at its most acute, there are arrangements in place that focus on maintaining individuals on their primary weekly social welfare payments for a period. This gives them some flexibility while they are seeking to regularise their accommodation arrangements. This approach means they maintain access to the other services that are made available by the Department, including activation programmes, CE schemes and the Tús initiative.
People experiencing homelessness who have queries about their entitlement to weekly social welfare payments should contact the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection through their local Intreo offices, where they will receive the same level of care and assistance that we hope to provide to everyone who presents at our local offices.
I thank the Minister for her reply. It would be remiss of us not to express our condolences on the deaths of two homeless people on the streets of the capital city over the past 24 hours. I do not think anybody really wants to be homeless. The provision of a payment is an essential tool in trying to help people to get off the streets. We need to put money directly into people's pockets. There is an element of discrimination here. The Minister mentioned that specific provision has been made for homeless people in Dublin to access social welfare payments, but such provision is not being made in any other part of the State. Homeless people in 25 counties cannot access minimum or basic social welfare payments. I ask the Minister to explain the discrimination or discrepancy that seems to exist in this regard.
There is no discrimination. A specific protocol was established for Dublin because, unfortunately, the problem of homelessness is more prevalent here than in other parts of the country. I reiterate that anyone in any part of the country who is experiencing homelessness can avail of weekly social welfare payments and supplementary welfare allowance payments through their local Intreo offices. Payments are maintained for a number of weeks until people can regularise their position with some sort of relatively normal accommodation through the homeless agencies around the country. Specific protocols have been established for Dublin because the Dublin divisions experience homelessness on a greater scale than other areas of the country. We are focusing on maintaining individuals' primary social welfare payments, as well as other services, such as those relating to activation, that they receive while they are engaging with homeless services in Dublin. We want to ensure that they are in a position to regularise their accommodation. Our overarching principle is to ensure that the services of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, including weekly payments, are available to people in these circumstances. Our primary ambition is to help people to get back into employment, thereby enabling them to afford to look after themselves. It is not the case that people have to be in regular accommodation before they can get weekly payments. We will do everything we can to assist people to get into regular accommodation and to regularise their housing arrangements.
