Govt offers emergency payment supporting householders impacted by storm

The Government issued a statement this afternoon about the emergency payment.

The Emergency Response Payment was formerly known as the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme. It aims to prevent hardship by providing income-tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged from flooding and severe weather events and who are unable to meet emergency costs for essential needs, household items and structural repair.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon (27 January), the Department of Social Protection confirmed that householders in Wexford directly affected by Storm Chandra can now avail of the payment.

The department noted that the scheme does not cover the following:

• Commercial, agricultural, or business losses

• Losses covered by an insurance policy or which could reasonably be expected to have been covered by an insurance policy

• Loss of items deemed to be inessential or luxury items

• Structural loss or damage to rented accommodation

• Any additional properties that are not occupied and lived in as the primary residence

• Repair or replacement of motor vehicles

Instead, it is available as "a support for households which experience unanticipated and exceptional costs in the immediate aftermath of an extreme weather event".

In dealing with emergency events, the department said it "generally adopts a three-stage approach".

This is as follows:

• Stage 1 of the scheme is to address hardship in the immediate aftermath of emergency events and provides emergency support payments to cover immediate and essential costs such as the purchase of food, clothing, bedding and essential personal items for immediate use. This stage is not income tested. This support will be available from today until Wednesday 04/02/2026. It does not cover the purchase of replacement food or other items.

• Stage 2 involves the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items where there is a valid reason why these were not covered by insurance and where the person can demonstrate that it is essential that the items are replaced and that they do not have the financial resources to cover these costs themselves.

• Stage 3 covers costs of essential structural repairs to a person’s primary residence where the person does not have the resources to cover the costs involved. The type of repairs includes plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, electrical re-wiring 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.

While Stage 1 is not income tested, income testing does apply to stages 2 and 3 of the scheme.

Reduced or tapered levels of support may be provided in cases where a household’s income is above the 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 department added.

If any homeowner affected by severe weather needs to access these supports, they can contact the Community Welfare Service by phoning 0818 60 70 80.

Further information on the Emergency Response Payment is available here.