Vol. 542 No. 3
150 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if the assistance requested by a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be granted; and if the South-Eastern Health Board will review this person's case. [24290/01]
Legislation governing the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme which is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department allows health 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 their weekly income. These payments are known as exceptional needs payments, ENPs. There is no automatic entitlement to an ENP. Payment of ENPs are made at the discretion of the health boards and neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding individual cases.
The principal consideration in paying an ENP to address a particular need is that the need is of an exceptional nature. Payments should arise only under abnormal conditions and should not become a regular or standard practice. The South Eastern Health Board was contacted on behalf of the person in question and has advised that her application for an ENP was refused by the community welfare officer on the grounds that the need was not of an exceptional nature. If the person in question is unhappy with the CWO's decision it is open to her to appeal the decision to the health board appeals officer.
