Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

In an effort to be of help to the Senator, all I know of this matter is what the Senator has said in this House and the information furnished by the Minister. However, as someone who has some knowledge in this area and who has written about the social welfare and supplementary welfare systems at length, it seems to me there is a significant difficulty in being of assistance in the matter. The Senator raised the issue as to why the supplementary welfare allowance is being refused. Clearly, there are two separate systems. If this individual has made an appeal against the refusal of the application for social welfare, which is an application to the Department of Social Protection, that is one issue. That appeal will be dealt with in the course of time. The delays in the appeal system have been there for a considerable period and are due to the failure of the previous Administration to address the issue. I hope we will have an opportunity to address the delays.

A separate appeal system operates with regard to supplementary welfare allowance. Clearly, if the applicant's situation is different now from that believed to be the case by the HSE and if she is not in receipt of rental income from the UK, which is a significant matter mentioned in the response, she may qualify. If she is receipt of rental income, I expect she does not qualify for supplementary welfare allowance. However, if she is not in receipt of rental income and if she has established habitual residence in this State, the course of action she should take is to lodge an appeal with the HSE with regard to the refusal of supplementary welfare allowance, which is a separate matter. Alternatively, she should reapply for supplementary welfare allowance.