Cork flood payments could be ‘a drop in the ocean’, says Cork TD

SOME 700 payments totalling approximately €940,000 have been made under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme to people in Cork whose homes were damaged during Storm Babet.

The scheme, administered by the Department of Social Protection through the local Community Welfare Service, is described by the Government as a scheme that “aims to lighten the hardship rather than provide full compensation for damage”.

In response to a parliamentary question on payments made, from Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said the purpose of the scheme “is to provide income-tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged and who are not able to meet costs for essential needs, household items and, in some instances, structural repair”.

The income test for humanitarian assistance “is more generous than that which applies in the case of social welfare schemes generally”, the Minister said.

“The basic principle of the income test is that individuals and families with average levels of income will qualify for assistance [including non-Social Welfare recipients].

“Since Storm Babet ... some 700 payments have been made to customers in Cork, up to the week ending 25 November, totalling approximately €940,000,” Ms Humphreys said.

Mr Gould said it is “positive that so many claims have been approved” but expressed concern that, for people whose homes were severely damaged by flooding, the amount paid out could be “a drop in the ocean”.