Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Was the pension paid on the basis that the Minister's staff had created a legitimate expectation? Was that the basis on which the senior official decided to pay the sum of €32,000 plus a lifelong pension to the individual in question? What review has the Minister carried out to ensure there are no other individuals with a legitimate expectation created by officials in the Department because of inaccurate information? Will he confirm that the Social Welfare Appeals Office established that the Department had provided inaccurate information when it reviewed the case? Did it inform the Department of this at the time? Was the appeals office unaware of this? Would it not have been more appropriate for that office to establish the claimant's entitlement at the time rather than obliging the claimant to revert to the Ombudsman?

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