Louise O'Reilly
Question:189. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of additional needs payments and the number disallowed in 2019 and in 2024, by category, in tabular form. [8229/25]
View answerWednesday, 26 February 2025
Questions (189)
Written answers
Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, my department may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income.
The reporting of the scheme was revised in 2022 to extract more complete information. Statistics on the number of disallowed claims are not available for 2019.
Table 1 shows the number of Additional Needs Payments registered, awarded and disallowed by category in 2022 and 2024. The figures do not reflect the number of claims that have been withdrawn, cancelled or are awaiting further information.
Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office. In addition, applications can be made online via www.mywelfare.ie.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Tabular Statement
Table 1 – Number of Additional Needs Payments registered, awarded and disallowed by category in 2022 and 2024.
|
Category |
2022 |
2024 |
||||
|
Registered |
Awarded |
Disallowed |
Registered |
Awarded |
Disallowed |
|
|
Bills |
6,057 |
3,068 |
947 |
6,851 |
2,297 |
1,578 |
|
Child Related |
3,026 |
2,067 |
260 |
4,504 |
2,293 |
722 |
|
Clothing |
53,198 |
41,293 |
5,054 |
40,199 |
30,179 |
5,521 |
|
Funeral |
5,219 |
2,583 |
728 |
5,711 |
2,699 |
1,002 |
|
General |
41,076 |
22,855 |
6,879 |
50,591 |
23,310 |
12,264 |
|
Housing |
33,867 |
22,682 |
3,268 |
33,937 |
20,385 |
4,625 |
|
Illness |
1,589 |
1,150 |
105 |
1,571 |
1,068 |
184 |
|
Other Supplements |
1,602 |
884 |
222 |
906 |
434 |
162 |
|
Urgent Needs Payment |
935 |
642 |
165 |
858 |
612 |
255 |
|
Grand Total |
146,569 |
97,224 |
17,628 |
145,128 |
83,277 |
26,313 |