John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At a committee meeting last December, the Minister indicated that in the first half of 2016, there was a 19% increase in applications for carer's allowance compared with the same period in the previous year. I asked at that meeting what percentage of those applications were refused and I am still awaiting a formal response. Will the Minister provide it now? Statistics showing a high refusal rate for carer's allowance applications are reflected in the outcome of such appeals at the Social Welfare Tribunal. Indeed, compared with other social welfare payments, the refusal rate for carer's allowance is notably much higher.

Clearly, there are more rigid criteria at play here and I need the Minister to outline that. How much discretion is given to the officials when making decisions on applications? Is the Minister genuinely concerned about the high refusal rates?

Is the Minister concerned that genuine cases may be being turned down? Such cases have been brought to my attention and to the Minister's attention. Is the Minister concerned about genuine cases that are being refused?

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