Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 315: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue regarding carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if the matter can be expedited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22965/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 4th April 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 10th August 2011 and the appeal will be assigned an Appeals Officer who, in due course, 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 of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 316: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if payments are made for purchase of clothes for children making their holy communion and confirmation; and if so, the level of payments that are awarded. [22970/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare service, an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Eligible people would normally be in receipt of a social welfare or health service executive payment. Each application is determined based on the particular circumstances of the case.

There are no rights to payments to cover communion/confirmation costs or the cost of other religious ceremonies. The payment of an ENP and the amount of any payment is at the discretion of the Community Welfare Officer (CWO) based on his/her experience and judgement having considered all the relevant facts of the case including the average cost of the item required.

ENP's are a key support for low income households and payments are only made after careful consideration of all the circumstances of an individual case. In 2010 approximately 12,650 payments were made in respect of communion, confirmation and other religious ceremonies at a cost of some €3.2m.

Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when the back to school allowance will be awarded in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23007/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme operates from the beginning of June until the end of September each year.

The administrative arrangements for the 2011 BSCFA scheme differ from those that applied in previous years. For this year, the majority of BSCFA entitlements were fully automated with no application form required from customers, 127,000 households in respect of over 250,000 children received their payment automatically in June.

Those customers who did not receive an automated payment are required to complete and return an application form to the Department. The timescale for determining applications for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance claims is dependent on a number of factors including: the number of applications received, when the application is lodged, the availability of the required information such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements and other relevant information regarding an individual's application.

In addition, some aspects of the applications are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where further investigations or third party evidence is required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information.

Staff are working as quickly as possible on clearing the large volume of manual application claims received. Based on the current volume of applications it could take up to 8 weeks from date of receipt to process claims. Departmental records show that an application form was received from the person concerned on 3rd August 2011 and it is expected he will be notified of the outcome of his claim shortly.

Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 318: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a disability allowance appeal will be finalised in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23011/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the disability allowance claim of the person concerned was disallowed following an assessment by a Medical Assessor who expressed the opinion that she was medically unsuitable for the allowance. An appeal was registered on 28 June 2011 and in accordance with the statutory procedures the relevant department papers and the comments of the Social Welfare services on the matter raised in the appeal have been sought. In that context, an assessment by another Medical Assessor will be carried out.

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