Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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1044. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to clarify the amount paid under the HAS1 and HAS2 humanitarian aid scheme due to storm Éowyn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11941/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS), administered by my department through the Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn.

Humanitarian assistance is available in three stages.

Stage 1 of the HAS is available to people while they are directly impacted by the storm. It targets people who need immediate supports.

This stage of humanitarian assistance is to help people with the essentials of life – food, water, shelter and warmth.

Stage 2 support generally involves the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items after a severe weather event.

Stage 3 humanitarian support helps to make a person’s accommodation habitable again in the aftermath of a severe weather event. It generally includes funding for work such as plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, electrical re-wiring and painting.

Up to 14 March 2025, 22,872 Stage 1 claims have been awarded with a total of over €5.2 million being paid in respect of Storm Éowyn related claims. The majority of payments made to people to date have been to meet the additional cost of feeding their families in the immediate aftermath of the storm where people remained without power and/or water.

The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme Stage 1 is in place to address essential needs in respect of shelter and sustenance in the immediate aftermath of the storm, when people were without power and other utilities Stage 1 of the HAS scheme provides emergency support payments to cover food and other essential costs at that time only. Throughout the continuing power outage, people who could not store and/or cook food were supported with the additional cost of food. However the scheme does not provide a general compensation payment for damage or losses incurred as a consequence of a weather event. Nor does it cover damage or losses that are reasonably expected to be covered by insurance policies, this includes spoiled food in a freezer etc.

It is important to note that humanitarian assistance – which provides the financial support for the essentials of life during a severe weather event – should not be conflated with the wider question of compensation.

Stages 2 and 3 of the HAS remain open and the Department continues to accept applications. I encourage people who were affected to submit their application for these Stages. To date there are only small numbers of application for these Stages.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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1045. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to confirm whether on 7 March 2025 an email went from the Department of Social Protection to all Social Welfare offices advising them to shred all applications not yet filed for the humanitarian aid HAS1 and HAS2 due to storm Éowyn; the number of applications processed and paid under HAS 1 and HAS 2; the number of people who have been refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11942/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, administered by my department through the Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn.

Humanitarian assistance is available in three stages.

Stage 1 of the HAS is available to people while they are directly impacted by the storm. It targets people who need immediate supports.

This stage of humanitarian assistance is to help people with the essentials of life – food, water, shelter and warmth.

Stage 2 support generally involves the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items after a severe weather event.

Stage 3 humanitarian support helps to make a person’s accommodation habitable again in the aftermath of a severe weather event. It generally includes funding for work such as plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, electrical re-wiring and painting.

Up to 14 March 2025, just under 66,900 applications have been received. 22,872 Stage 1 claims have been awarded with a total of over €5.2 million being paid in respect of Storm Éowyn related claims. The majority of payments made to people to date have been to meet the additional cost of feeding their families in the immediate aftermath of the storm where people remained without power and/or water.

My department continues to process applications as quickly as possible with priority given to the most urgent cases. Additional staff have been assigned to deal with applications to ensure there are no undue delays. Those who are not satisfied with the outcome of their application have been advised that they can seek a review. As every claim has the right to review, the final number of disallowed applications will only be known when all reviews have been completed.

The department administers over 100 schemes and services with over 3.4 million new applications processed each year. All applications are always fully processed. The Department never issues an instruction to staff to shred customer application forms. Once an application form is processed and stored securely on the Department’s IT systems, the Department’s data retention policy has timelines for the retention of paper records.

The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme Stage 1 is in place to address essential needs in respect of shelter and sustenance in the immediate aftermath of the storm, when people were without power and other utilities Stage 1 of the HAS scheme provides emergency support payments to cover food and other essential costs at that time only. Throughout the continuing power outage, people who could not store and/or cook food were supported with the additional cost of food. However the scheme does not provide a general compensation payment for damage or losses incurred as a consequence of a weather event. Nor does it cover damage or losses that are reasonably expected to be covered by insurance policies, this includes spoiled food in a freezer etc.

It is important to note that humanitarian assistance – which provides the financial support for the essentials of life during a severe weather event – should not be conflated with the wider question of compensation.

Stages 2 and 3 of the HAS remain open and the Department continues to accept applications. I encourage people who were affected to submit their application for these Stages.