Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
310. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which exceptional needs payments have been availed of in the past 12 months by various applicants in terms of age profile; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35717/21]
View answerUnder the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment (UNP) may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for supplementary welfare allowance but who have an urgent need which they cannot meet from their own resources or where an alternative is not available at that time. Government has provided €46.02 million for the exceptional and urgent needs schemes in 2021.
The ENP and UNP schemes are 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.
The Community Welfare Service in my department processed 61,077 ENP/UNP payments during the period June 2020 to May 2021.
The number of ENPs and UNPs for the period June 2020 to May 2021 by age profile is set out in the following table.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Tabular Statement - The number of ENPs and UNPs for the period June 2020 to May 2021 by age profile
|
Age |
Number of Payments |
|
Under 25 |
5,582 |
|
25-65 |
51,180 |
|
66 and Over |
4,315 |
