Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
643. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if the charges for a mains water connection to the home of a pensioner (details supplied) in County Kerry are eligible for an exceptional needs or additional needs payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37898/22]
View answerThe purpose of the Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) is to assist people with essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The ENP is demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme considering 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.
ENPs are not intended to cover circumstances where another Government Department or Agency has a primary responsibility. The person concerned should be advised to engage with her Local Authority and Irish Water and if necessary, the Commissions for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). Under the Rural Water programme, there are grants available to improve a person’s private water supply in rural areas where they cannot access the public water supply. A private water supply provides water to one house and is often a well.
If the person concerned has exhausted all other options for resolving the matter and can confirm that there is no financial assistance available from another Government Department or Agency, it is open to her to make an ENP application.
An application for assistance can be made by completing a SWA1 form, which is widely available. This form can be downloaded at www.gov.ie and is available at all Intreo Centres and Branch Offices. It can also now be requested by emailing cwsforms@welfare.ie or by calling the CWS national phoneline at 0818 60 70 80. The completed application form and supporting documentation can be posted or dropped into the Intreo Centre where it will be processed promptly.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
