Social Welfare Benefits

Tuesday, 1 March 2022

Questions (519, 520, 521, 522, 523)

Seán Sherlock

Question:

519. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the breakdown by county of supplementary welfare allowance applications in 2020; the number of applications awarded; the number refused; the total amount paid out; and the reason given for the payments by county. [11480/22]

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Seán Sherlock

Question:

520. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the breakdown by county of supplementary welfare allowance applications in 2019; the number of applications awarded; the number refused; the total amount paid out; and the reason given for the payments by county [11481/22]

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Seán Sherlock

Question:

521. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the breakdown by county for supplementary welfare allowance applications in 2018; the number of applications awarded; the number refused; the total amount paid out; and the reason given for the payments by county [11482/22]

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Seán Sherlock

Question:

522. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the breakdown by county for supplementary welfare allowance applications in 2017; the number of applications awarded; the number refused; the total amount paid out; and the reason given for the payments by county [11483/22]

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Seán Sherlock

Question:

523. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the breakdown by county for supplementary welfare allowance applications in 2016; the number of applications awarded; the number refused; the total amount paid out; and the reason given for the payments by county [11484/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 519, 520, 521, 522 and 523 together.

The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents. Supports provided under the SWA scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single exceptional needs payments (ENPs) and urgent needs payments (UNPs).

The basic supplementary welfare allowance provides immediate assistance for those in need who are awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment or do not qualify for payment under other State schemes.

Rent supplement provides short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The scheme ensures that for those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed due to temporary loss of employment, can continue to meet their rental commitments.

The original purpose of the mortgage interest supplement scheme (MIS) was to provide short-term support to eligible people who were unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which was their sole place of residence, due to temporary unemployment or loss of earnings.

It should be noted that the mortgage interest supplement scheme was discontinued for new entrants from 1 January 2014.

Under the SWA scheme, a supplement can be awarded to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the client’s own resources and are deemed to be necessary. In addition, officers can 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. Decisions on ENPs and SWA supplements 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.

Statistics are maintained on the number of applications awarded under the SWA scheme. They have not been maintained on the number of applications refused over the period 2016-2021.

Table 1 shows the number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients by county, at year end 2016.

Table 2 shows the number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients by county, at year end 2017.

Table 3 shows the number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients by county, at year end 2018.

Table 4 shows the number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients by county, at year end 2019.

Table 5 shows the number of Basic SWA and supplement recipients by county, at year end 2020.

Table 6 shows the number of ENPs and UNPs paid by county for 2016-2020.

Table 7 shows the number of ENPs and UNPs paid by category for 2016-2020.

Table 8 shows the expenditure by SWA scheme for 2016-2020. A breakdown by county in not available.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Table 1 - Basic SWA and Supplement recipients by county at year end 2016

County	Basic SWA	Rent Supplement	Other Supplements	Mortgage Interest Supplement
Carlow	305	593	90	68
Cavan	187	391	49	38
Clare	123	423	93	30
Cork	1,539	4,958	748	201
Donegal	409	415	101	44
Dublin	5,527	20,561	3,068	520
Galway	681	2,506	135	50
Kerry	334	1,554	144	29
Kildare	733	2,579	239	160
Kilkenny	450	319	102	65
Laois	280	871	149	29
Leitrim	88	281	13	11
Limerick	611	954	926	106
Longford	166	401	68	9
Louth	624	859	107	58
Mayo	391	1,074	86	76
Meath	542	1,001	119	177
Monaghan	201	188	51	35
Offaly	246	563	193	41
Roscommon	224	566	60	26
Sligo	296	289	27	5
Tipperary	604	901	403	67
Waterford	466	590	118	23
Westmeath	257	1,299	137	23
Wexford	385	1960	118	109
Wicklow	521	1,945	133	82
Total	16,190	48,041	7,477	2,082

Table 2 - Basic SWA and Supplement recipients by county at year end 2017

County	Basic SWA	Rent Supplement	Other Supplements	Mortgage Interest Supplement
Carlow	332	398	78	35
Cavan	164	297	41	24
Clare	164	177	80	20
Cork	1,423	3,578	643	126
Donegal	442	146	94	24
Dublin	5,480	16,309	2,482	343
Galway	612	1,724	106	37
Kerry	341	1,141	150	17
Kildare	685	1,874	228	99
Kilkenny	440	181	88	41
Laois	301	552	137	14
Leitrim	99	180	11	7
Limerick	566	739	814	50
Longford	153	252	68	5
Louth	644	456	92	36
Mayo	320	623	86	54
Meath	493	546	111	122
Monaghan	178	141	55	28
Offaly	252	233	196	24
Roscommon	255	378	60	14
Sligo	277	131	19	4
Tipperary	636	434	372	44
Waterford	465	188	121	13
Westmeath	260	840	142	15
Wexford	419	1,326	91	73
Wicklow	639	1,534	124	48
Total	16,040	34,378	6,489	1,317

Table 3 - Basic SWA and Supplement recipients by county at year end 2018

County	Basic SWA	Rent Supplement	Other Supplements
Carlow	269	225	96
Cavan	155	200	43
Clare	197	114	85
Cork	1,565	2,791	706
Donegal	475	89	98
Dublin	6,222	12,489	2,405
Galway	575	1,139	127
Kerry	355	780	140
Kildare	677	1,143	247
Kilkenny	507	113	106
Laois	313	240	149
Leitrim	103	96	14
Limerick	608	506	735
Longford	170	142	69
Louth	606	217	94
Mayo	329	358	108
Meath	508	304	197
Monaghan	250	110	62
Offaly	352	92	197
Roscommon	282	219	60
Sligo	253	77	19
Tipperary	685	246	374
Waterford	471	116	135
Westmeath	301	629	142
Wexford	456	790	110
Wicklow	786	1,078	164
Total	17,470	24,303	6,682

Table 4 - Basic SWA and Supplement recipients by county at year end 2019

County	Basic SWA	Rent Supplement	Other Supplements
Carlow	277	134	69
Cavan	165	147	31
Clare	186	54	59
Cork	1,462	2,135	507
Donegal	492	69	91
Dublin	5,908	8,920	2,036
Galway	514	717	114
Kerry	394	589	91
Kildare	626	811	220
Kilkenny	449	82	85
Laois	240	95	110
Leitrim	98	44	12
Limerick	600	357	636
Longford	171	60	65
Louth	597	102	72
Mayo	354	255	65
Meath	514	136	159
Monaghan	205	108	54
Offaly	325	51	173
Roscommon	309	135	53
Sligo	247	62	12
Tipperary	718	174	297
Waterford	457	76	106
Westmeath	240	394	127
Wexford	501	437	96
Wicklow	835	637	150
Total	16,884	16,781	5,490

Table 5 - Basic SWA and Supplement recipients by county at year end 2020

County	Basic SWA	Rent Supplement	Other Supplements
Carlow	194	1,91	56
Cavan	90	192	26
Clare	111	13,2	52
Cork	998	2,357	397
Donegal	260	142	88
Dublin	4,939	10,018	1,527
Galway	333	831	102
Kerry	255	739	67
Kildare	447	879	165
Kilkenny	305	132	77
Laois	150	124	106
Leitrim	57	62	10
Limerick	415	446	563
Longford	72	64	58
Louth	456	165	44
Mayo	208	279	58
Meath	397	277	97
Monaghan	131	117	51
Offaly	213	61	149
Roscommon	196	131	43
Sligo	163	138	7
Tipperary	484	194	256
Waterford	338	116	50
Westmeath	173	392	118
Wexford	331	411	81
Wicklow	608	714	128
Total	12,324	19,304	4,376

Table 6 - The number of ENPs and UNPs paid by county for 2016-2020

County	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Carlow	1,123	876	1,015	850	754
Cavan	600	623	526	808	589
Clare	2,233	3,126	4,559	2,494	1,777
Cork	11,089	12,134	14,703	8,991	5,385
Donegal	1,634	1,648	2,193	1,865	1,356
Dublin	35,348	32,451	31,777	28,805	22,525
Galway	2,680	2,876	3,303	2,549	1,825
Kerry	2,584	2,689	3,206	3,040	1,970
Kildare	3,747	4,188	3,707	3,447	2,931
Kilkenny	1,427	1,412	1,635	1,376	1,055
Laois	3,593	3,582	3,803	3,473	2,169
Leitrim	729	802	819	764	850
Limerick	4,907	8,122	8,204	3,342	2,530
Longford	1,232	1,392	1,348	1,394	1,227
Louth	1,580	1,608	1,751	1,780	1,457
Mayo	2,324	2,377	2,936	2,788	1,722
Meath	2,955	3,848	4,556	3,614	2,350
Monaghan	989	858	1,085	1,219	993
Offaly	1,283	1,259	1,261	1,156	1,026
Roscommon	808	1,619	2,029	1,742	874
Sligo	2,325	2,379	2,799	1,914	924
Tipperary	4,602	4,095	4,528	3,854	2,958
Waterford	3,588	3,411	3,530	2,930	2,201
Westmeath	2,795	2,855	3,430	3,503	2,185
Wexford	1,049	951	1,118	1,172	882
Wicklow	2,883	2,273	2,693	3,328	3,074
Total	100,107	103,454	112,514	92,198	67,589

Table 7 - The number of ENPs and UNPs paid by category for 2016-2020

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Bills	3,900	3,202	3,007	2,932	2,000
Child Related	4,143	3,970	3,537	3,215	2,324
Clothing	18,680	17,030	17,172	16,238	12,105
Funeral	2,937	2,786	2,881	2,905	2,778
General	38,886	44,824	48,416	35,411	19,686
Housing	28,133	28,558	26,498	27,584	26,077
Illness	3,175	2,790	2,670	2,207	1,507
Urgent Needs Payment	253	294	8,333	1,706	1,112
Total	100,107	103,454	112,514	92,198	67,589

Table 8 - Expenditure by SWA scheme for 2016-2020

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Basic SWA	89.0m	97.2m	111.8m	120.1m	115.2m
Rent Supplement	275.3m	230.6m	175.0m	125.2m	133.1m
Other Supplements (incl MIS)	13.3m	10.0m	7.7m	6.6m	4.9m
Exceptional Needs Payments/Urgent Needs Payments	32.2m	38.1m	42.3m	43.2m	41.0m

Question No. 520 answered with Question No. 519.

Question No. 521 answered with Question No. 519.

Question No. 522 answered with Question No. 519.

Question No. 523 answered with Question No. 519.