Struggling families in Laois received Essential Needs Payments (ENPs) at a rate double the national average in 2014, according to new figures.
The Department of Social Protection granted 107,000 Exceptional Needs Payments, 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’, last year.
According to figures published in the Irish Mirror, Laois applicants received 3,396 of those payments, or 42 payments per 1,000 population – almost twice the national average.
The payments can be for special clothing for a person who has a serious illness, bedding or cooking utensils for someone setting up a home for the first time, visiting relatives in hospital or prison, or funeral costs. You can also apply for financial help for clothing for children.
The county with the second highest rate of ENPs was Dublin, followed by Tipperary. Monaghan had the lowest number of applicants.
