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The Emergency Response Payment, formerly the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, is providing support to households impacted by recent flooding in Killarney. The three-stage scheme covers immediate essential needs, replacement of household items, and structural repairs, with income testing applied to the latter two stages.
The Emergency Response Payment scheme, previously known as the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, has been activated to support households directly affected by recent flooding in Killarney.
Applications for the payment remain open until September 6th. The scheme is intended to help individuals and families who are unable to meet emergency costs for essential needs, household items, and, in certain cases, structural repairs to their primary residence. Importantly, the scheme does not provide a general compensation payment for damage or losses arising from a weather event.
It also excludes damage or losses that are insured under home insurance policies, or that would reasonably be expected to have been covered by such a policy. Stage one of the scheme is designed to address hardship in the immediate aftermath of an emergency event. It provides emergency payments to cover items such as food, clothing, bedding, and essential personal items for immediate use. This initial stage is not subject to income testing.
Stage two involves the replacement of white goods including washing machines and fridges, basic furniture items, and other essential household items, where there is a valid reason why these were not covered by insurance. Recipients must demonstrate that it is essential for the items to be replaced and that they do not have the financial resources to cover these costs themselves.
Stage three covers the costs of essential structural repairs to a person's primary residence where the individual does not have the resources to cover the costs involved. Eligible repairs include plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, electrical rewiring, and painting. These costs are only covered if they are essential, result directly from damage caused by the emergency event, and there are valid reasons as to why household insurance was not in place.
All costs are subject to expert assessment by a loss adjuster. Income testing applies to stages two and three of the scheme.
However, the income test for the Emergency Response Payment is more generous than that applied under means-tested social welfare payments in general. The income limits for stages two and three are set at 50,000 euro for a single person, 90,000 euro for a couple, and 15,000 euro per dependent child. Reduced or tapered levels of support may be provided in cases where a household's income exceeds these limits.
The basic principle of the income test is that individuals and families with average levels of income will qualify for assistance, which includes non-social welfare recipients. The scheme reflects a tiered approach to emergency relief, prioritising immediate needs first and then extending to longer-term household replacement and structural repair, while ensuring that public funds are directed toward those who lack adequate insurance coverage or the financial means to recover on their own
Emergency Response Payment Humanitarian Assistance Scheme Killarney Flooding Flood Relief
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