People in Dundalk are waiting up to ten weeks for emergency financial assistance

People in Dundalk are waiting up to ten weeks for basic financial and emergency assistance from the Department of Social Welfare according to Fine Gael Senator John McGahon.

Speaking in the Seanad yesterday the senator from Louth outlined how waiting lists schemes like the ‘white appliance allowance’  used to be around two weeks but have grown substantially in recent months.

“Everyone in this House will know that when someone gets a new council house, they can apply for kitchen appliances like a cooker or a washing machine, for flooring or for other items like bed frames. 

“This basic stuff is needed to move into an unfurnished house. In previous times that application might take a maximum of two weeks. 

“People who were offered brand new homes in the first week of November put these applications in at that time but they have still not been processed.”

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He continued:

“It is the same for those who apply for emergency funding for a deposit. 

“They need €1,000 or €1,200 for a deposit straight away but they are now having to wait four, five, six or seven weeks.”

“It is not the fault of staff in social welfare offices either. 

“They are simply being overwhelmed by the huge volume of applications coming into them.”

He further called for the Senate to hold a debate to find out exactly what the Minister's plans are to cut down these times, as she outlined before Christmas

“To put it bluntly, it is simply not acceptable that someone has to wait a minimum of two months for a basic emergency funding application to be processed. 

“We need to fix it. We need to figure out how to fix it, and we need to streamline those applications to get them across the line as quickly as possible,” he concluded.