Foyte MLA Mark H Durkan
Speaking after the Committee for Communities was informed of the Minister’s plan to establish a panel to review the income threshold of £20,405 and the operational delivery of the scheme that will report in June, Mr Durkan said:
“The SDLP has repeatedly told the Minister since April last year that limiting the Discretionary Support Scheme Self-Isolation Grant to people with a household income of under £20,405 would cause hardship and risk people breaching public health advice.
“Not only is the threshold prohibitively low: the people who qualify also struggle to secure support if they have any savings whatsoever or even food in their fridge.
“Those who do overcome those obstacles are unlikely to be part of the 2% to receive £500 or more, with the average payment being a measly £147.
“The Minister cannot wash her hands of responsibility and blame a lack of money, as she handed £2 million of the scheme’s budget back to the Department of Finance.
“That could have provided 4,000 families stretched to their limit with a £500 lifeline.
“Families are facing real hardship, as we saw in BBC Spotlight’s programme on Tuesday night, but the Minister’s approach is nothing short of lackadaisical.
“How many more families will be denied support from the Discretionary Support Grant by June before the Minister takes action to fix these glaring problems?”
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