Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 381: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if there is an appeal for domiciliary care allowance lodged in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo. [23148/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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An application for domiciliary care allowance, by the person concerned, was disallowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department in October 2009. I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there is no trace of appeal against this decision by the person concerned.

In the normal course, an appeal against the decision of a Deciding Officer must be made within 21 days of a decision being notified. Appeals received outside of this time limit may be accepted at the discretion of the Chief Appeals Officer. This limit is not rigidly enforced but in view of the length of time which has elapsed since the person concerned was notified of the decision and in the absence of any explanation for the failure to make the appeal within the prescribed time, it is considered that the acceptance of an appeal would not be warranted at this late stage. However, it is open to the person concerned to make a new application to the Department.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.