Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To clarify, this was a genuine error on the part of the Department and it will be rectified. As I have said, as Minister for the Department, that I apologise for the error. Officials had understood that the living alone allowance should not be paid in tandem with PCB. Upon further review, it is now clear that PCB customers should retain their living alone allowance when moving from an invalidity pension and that these letters should not have issued. I extend my apologies to the man the Deputy has mentioned for any upset he may have been caused. I fully understand that he is going through cancer treatment and that getting a shock like that is not what we want to see. However, this was honestly a genuine error on the part of the Department. To be fair to the Department staff, they process millions and millions of payments. In this case, something was read and misunderstood. Everybody who got that letter will now get another letter to say that their payment will remain as is.

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