Skip to main content
Normal View

Supplementary Welfare Allowance Eligibility

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 April 2019

Thursday, 4 April 2019

Questions (343)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

343. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the extent to which she continues to ensure that undue hardship is not caused to recipients of social welfare payments in cases in which payments have been suspended while under review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16021/19]

View answer

Written answers

Basic weekly supplementary welfare allowance, or SWA, may be paid to customers awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment.  In certain circumstances, if a person is not eligible for other social welfare payments and their weekly income is below the SWA rate for their family size, a payment may be made to bring their income up to the appropriate SWA rate.  The Community Welfare Service officer will engage with a claimant to establish eligibility as quickly as possible and limit any delay to payments. 

Staff in the Department are engaged with customers throughout the entire lifecycle of their claim, including on regular reviews for all schemes on an ongoing basis.  A person’s entitlement to a social welfare payment is reviewed on a continuing basis to ensure that they continue to satisfy the conditions of the scheme.  A person’s means may also be reviewed from time to time. A customer may also request a review of their means in the light of changed circumstances at any time. 

Review decisions are not delayed unnecessarily once all the information requested from the customer at the time of review is made available to my Department.  Payments are not suspended unless there is a valid reason for doing so, for example the provision of insufficient information by the customer in response to a query, or where there is no reply from the customer.  Undue hardship for customers should not arise if there is ongoing co-operation from the customer with the Deciding Officer or Designated Person in my Department.

Top
Share