27,000 working families claim emergency welfare funds
The family income supplement, which gives extra financial support to working people on low pay with children, has cost almost €150 million. The Department of Social Protection says this benefits at least 60,000 children.
In 2007, before the recession, 22,000 families claimed the benefit, but this has risen ever since. In 2006, the scheme cost €107m.
Figures compiled by the Irish Examiner reveal the extent of the Department of Social Protection’s expenditure to support huge numbers of people, many of whom are working but who still need state benefits.
So far this year, the emergency and basic allowances to help families get by have cost in excess of €800m and are headed for €1 billion before the end of the year.
More than 107,000 people are receiving such allowances. In 2007, the number was fewer than 80,000.
A breakdown of the welfare expenditure so far this year shows:
35,792 people are in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance, up from 27,379 in 2007. So far this year, it has cost €124.5m.
Mortgage interest supplement (MIS) has cost €50.1m for 18,735 people to date, up from 3,712 people in 2007.
11,251 farmers are getting farm assist, a social assistance means-tested scheme costing €84.1m, up from 7,376 in 2007.
Other supplements, such as diet and travel emergency payments, were provided to 14,478 people at a cost of €9.6m.
Also this year, more than 350,000 people got one-off payments for exceptional and urgent needs, and back-to-school clothing and footwear. The back-to-school allowance has cost €78.2m for 179,589 families, up about 20,000 from last year. The payment has doubled since 2007.
One-off exceptional or urgent needs payments were granted to almost 170,000 people to help meet essential needs, costing €47.3m to the end of September.
On top of this, there are now in excess of 95,846 people receiving rent supplement. This year it has cost €376.4m, but this is expected to top €500m by year end.
The scheme, dubbed a “welfare trap in certain cases” by Social Protection Minister Joan Burton, has been earmarked for reform for years. According to Ms Burton, two initiatives are being pursued to transfer long-term rent supplement recipients to housing solutions backed by local authorities.
She has also signalled the reform of MIS, expected to cost €77m in 2011. Ms Burton maintains the payment is not an appropriate long-term support for homeowners and must be replaced with a more sustainable solution.
