Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 574: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) in County Kildare rejects the suggestion that they are not a separate spouse which was the criteria used to refuse their application for one parent family allowance; if she will therefore re-examine the case in view of the fact that they have no money and receives no maintenance for themselves or their three children; if in such circumstances the decision of the appeals officer appears to be subjective; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23483/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned applied for One Parent Family Payment in February 2003 and April 2007. On each occasion her application was disallowed by Deciding Officers on the grounds that she failed to establish that she was a separated person within the meaning of the Social Welfare legislation. The person concerned appealed the decisions to the Social Welfare Appeals Office and, following oral hearings on 20 September 2006 and 8 January 2008, the Appeals Officers upheld the decisions.

An Appeals Officers decision is final in the absence of new facts and fresh evidence.

The case was again reviewed by an Appeals Officer in May 2008 but in the absence of new facts and/or fresh evidence the decision remains unchanged.