Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) supplements

Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) supplements are paid weekly or monthly to help meet ongoing necessary costs which you cannot meet out of your weekly income.

These payments are made at the discretion of the Community Welfare Service officer who considers your circumstances, your needs and your resources.

Examples of payments include:

• A heat supplement if you have exceptional essential heating costs due to your age, medical condition or disability
• A travel supplement if you have a recurring travel expense, for example, if you have ongoing travel costs for hospital visits
• Rent supplement if you are living in private rented accommodation but can no longer provide for the cost of your accommodation
• A diet supplement to help with the cost of a special diet prescribed by your doctor or hospital consultant. (This closed for new applicants in 2014.)

An Additional Needs Payment is a once-off payment for expenses that you cannot pay from your weekly income or other savings and resources.

To be eligible for an SWA supplement, you must:

• Live in Ireland
• Satisfy the habitual residence condition
• Satisfy the SWA means test (all capital or property, except your home, is assessed in the means test)

You won't normally be eligible if you:

• Have access to other resources to cover the cost
• Are in full-time work (30 hours or more per week)
• Are in full-time education
• Are involved in a trade dispute or on strike. However, you may apply for an Additional Needs Payment for your dependent adult or dependent child.

Heating supplement

A heating supplement is an additional weekly payment to help with the cost of heating your home. You may get a heating supplement, if you:

• Can show you have extra heating needs because of your age, medical condition or disability
• Are living alone or only with a dependent adult or dependent children
• Satisfy the SWA means test

There is no fixed rate for heating supplement. The amount of heating supplement you get is based on your need as assessed by your Community Welfare Officer (CWO).

Travel supplement

A Supplementary Welfare Allowance travel supplement may be paid to help with ongoing or recurring travel costs that are necessary but cannot be met from your own resources.

Rent supplement

Rent Supplement may be paid if you are living in private rented accommodation but can no longer provide for the cost of your accommodation from your own income or resources, generally due to loss of employment.

To get a heating supplement or travel supplement, apply to the CWO at your local Community Welfare Service. You can download an application form (pdf) or get it from your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office.

To apply for rent supplement, download and fill in the application form (SWA RS1).

The diet supplement was discontinued for new applicants from 1 February 2014. To get financial assistance, such as an Additional Needs Payment, with essential costs or expenses, contact the CWO at your local Community Welfare Service.

Appeals

If you are unhappy with the decision of a Community Welfare Officer, you can ask for an internal review to re-examine the decision. Submit as much additional information as possible to help your case.

Diet supplement

The diet supplement was discontinued for new applicants from 1 February 2014.

However, people who were getting Diet Supplement before 1 February 2014 can continue to keep the payment (for as long as they continue to be entitled to the payment).

You are entitled to retain the diet supplement for a prescribed diet, if you:

• Have a specified medical condition
• Meet the conditions for Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) and
• Pass a means test

To get a diet supplement, a hospital consultant or a hospital registrar must certify:

• That you or your adult dependant or child dependant has been prescribed a diet because of a specified medical condition
• The type of diet prescribed
• How long you will need the prescribed diet.

A gluten-free diet for an adult or a child aged 18 to 22 may be prescribed by your family doctor (GP).

In the case of diet supplements, for example, for people with cystic fibrosis, the long-term illness scheme book may be accepted as verification that such a diet has been prescribed. The length of time for which the diet is being prescribed and the type of diet must be stated.

Qualifying diets

The weekly cost of each prescribed diet is set by the Department of Social Protection. The following diets qualify for the diet supplement:

Adult diet supplement

The rate for a single person and lone parent is calculated as follows:

The diet cost as set by the Department of Social Protection, less one-third of your social welfare payment at the 2007 rate is the diet supplement paid to you.

You can check the rates for 2007 in SW19 (pdf).

Example 1:

• Paul is on a high-protein, high-calorie diet and is getting a One-Parent Family Payment. The Department of Social Protection has set the cost of this diet at €71.43. Take one-third of his social welfare payment (excluding any amount he is getting for a child dependant) from €71.43 to get the amount of diet supplement payable. (€71.43 - €61.93 (or one-third of his One Parent Family Payment at the 2007 rate) = €9.50 paid as diet supplement)

The rate for a married or cohabiting couple is calculated as follows:

The diet cost as set by the Department of Social Protection less one-sixth of your social welfare payment at the 2007 rate is the diet supplement paid to you.

Example 2:

• Mary is married and on a high-protein high-calorie diet and is getting Jobseeker's Allowance. The Department of Social Protection has set the cost of this diet at €71.43 . Take one-sixth of her social welfare payment (excluding any amount she is getting for a child dependant) from €71.43 to get the amount of diet supplement payable. (€71.43 - €51.52 (one-sixth of her Jobseeker's Allowance payment including an increase for her adult dependant at the 2007 rate) = €19.91 paid as diet supplement)

Child diet supplement

The diet supplement rates for a qualified child are as follows:

• Low-lactose, milk-free diet = €3.50
• Gluten-free diet = €6.50
• High-protein, high-calorie diet = €9.50
• Altered-consistency (liquidised) diet = €13

A child is considered to be a dependant if they are under 18, or are over 18 and under 22 and in full-time education.