Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 117: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason different criteria apply depending on whether a person is applying for farm aid or fish aid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11937/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The farm assist scheme is a means-tested payment broadly similar to the jobseeker's allowance scheme. It features a different means test, which takes account of the specific nature of farming. Unlike jobseeker's allowance (JA), farmers claiming this payment do not need to be available for work outside of the farm in order to qualify. Fish assist is not a separate scheme. It comes under JA and features a different means test than that for JA. The scheme applies to persons engaged in sea fishing in a self-employed capacity. A self-employed fisherman may qualify for jobseeker's allowance but must be, however, available for and genuinely seeking work. Across the spectrum of social welfare schemes, a range of different qualifying criteria and payment conditions apply that reflect the different contingencies facing various groups in society.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is concerned at a trend emerging regarding claimants for domiciliary care allowance who are being refused in substantial numbers initially but are successful on appeal; if she will review the instructions and guidelines under which her Department's medical assessors are interpreting medical evidence in such applications; if she will expedite an application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork which is presently being referred to the appeals office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11959/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Eligibility for domiciliary care allowance is not based primarily on the medical or psychological condition, but on the resulting lack of function of body or mind necessitating the degree of extra care and attention required. Each application is assessed on an individual basis taking account of the evidence submitted. The Department uses a set of consistent and objective guidelines in determining the medical eligibility of children for the scheme. These guidelines were drawn up prior to the transfer of the scheme from the HSE in April 2009 by a group, chaired by the Department's Chief Medical Advisor, comprising senior medical personnel from the HSE as well as eminent professionals in the areas of physical disabilities which affect children and child psychiatry and psychology. All claims are assessed by designated Departmental Medical Assessors who have received special training in Human Disability Evaluation. In the case of an application which is refused on medical grounds, the applicant may submit additional information and/or ask for the case to be reviewed by a different Medical Assessor specially designated for this task. Where a person is not satisfied with the decision of a Deciding Officer, they may appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Of the 5,333 applications processed in 2010, a total of 2,576 (48%) were allowed by a deciding officer. Of the 641 appeals finalised in 2010, 179 (28%) were successful. This figure is substantially lower than the average success rate on appeals across all the Department's schemes and is an indication that the current application and assessment process is working in a fair and consistent manner. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 10 March 2011. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 12 March 2011 and the appeal will be referred, in due course, to an Appeals Officer who will decide whether the case can be decided on a summary basis or whether to list it for oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.