Vol. 555 No. 5
411 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a deaf person (details supplied) is entitled to an appliance which alerts them if their smoke alarm is activated under the SWA scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18883/02]
Legislation governing the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department, allows boards to make a single payment to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. There is no automatic entitlement to an exceptional needs payment of this kind.
The South-Western Area Health Board was contacted on behalf of the person in question and has confirmed that an application for assistance towards the cost of installing such a device as part of her personal security system is currently being considered. The board has written to the person in question requesting confirmation from her doctor that she has hearing difficulties. The board has further advised that when this confirmation is made available a favourable decision can be anticipated in this case.
