90% of flood assistance fund unspent

Updated: 19:12, Thursday, 11 March 2010

Over 90% of the €10m pledged by the Government for those affected by the floods in November and December has not yet been spent.

1 of 1 Cork Badly damaged by flooding at the end of last year
Cork
Badly damaged by flooding at the end of last year

Over 90% of the €10m pledged by the Government for people affected by the floods in November and December has not yet been spent.

According to figures from the Department of Social Welfare, just over €1m of the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme has been spent.

The biggest county in receipt of payments so far is Galway, which got over €292,000. Cork comes next with €279,069.

So far 1,241 individuals have been assisted by this fund nationwide.

The fund is means-tested and is intended to provide for hardship alleviation as opposed to full compensation. It is administered by local community welfare officers.

In a statement today, the Department said that they expect more to be spent as people assess large scale claims.

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