Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views regarding the payment of rent allowance to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24323/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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People in full-time education are normally excluded from receipt of rent supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. However, people participating in approved courses under the back-to-education allowance scheme receive a standard weekly rate of payment equivalent to the maximum rate of their previous social welfare payment and may retain any secondary benefits, such as rent supplements, which had been in payment prior to the commencement of their education course. The benefit to those participating in the back-to-education allowance scheme is that their status as a full-time student does not preclude them from receiving rent supplement.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the person concerned is in receipt of a rent supplement of €246 per month. The HSE has further advised that it has written to the person concerned advising her that she must be in receipt of a back to education allowance in order to retain her rent supplement entitlement.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding a claim for supplementary welfare allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24327/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Currently Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) is administered by the Community Welfare Service of the Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of the Department. The Executive has advised that the person concerned is currently in receipt of the maximum level of SWA allowable based on an assessment of his particular circumstances. The assessment has taken account of his family composition, all household income, and an assessment of capital (as per Section 35 of Social Welfare & Pensions Act 2007) on the additional property which the person concerned has possession of.

The HSE further advised that the person concerned appealed the decision to the HSE Appeals Office in relation to the reduced rate of payment of SWA. The appeals office upheld the decision of the Community Welfare Service. The person concerned has been advised of his right to appeal the decision to the Chief Appeals Office, however to date an appeal has not been submitted.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way it was concluded that a person (details supplied) in County Kildare was deemed not to qualify on medical grounds for invalidity pension; if this issue will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24345/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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On 30 August 2011 an application for invalidity pension was received from the person concerned. Invalidity pension is payable to persons who satisfy the contribution conditions and are regarded as permanently incapable of work. A contribution condition for invalidity pension requires that the claimant must have at least 260 contributions paid at class A, E, or H rate since entry into insurable employment.

According to my department's records, the person concerned has not paid sufficient contributions and is therefore not entitled to invalidity pension from 30 August 2011. He was notified of this decision and the reason for it on 7 September 2011. As the person concerned did not satisfy the contribution condition for invalidity pension, eligibility on medical grounds was not determined. The person in question is currently in receipt of a disability allowance from my department, at a reduced rate which takes account of his means. Disability allowance is a means-tested payment for people who are habitually resident in the state and are expected to be incapable of work for at least 1 year.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the delay in payment of child benefit in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24348/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The person concerned has submitted two claims for child benefit. The first was received on 31/1/07 in respect of three children. The second was received on 14/8/09 in respect of a fourth child. Two of the children reside with the applicant, while the other two children continue to reside with their mother in Portugal.

In order to determine entitlement, it is first necessary to ascertain whether Family Benefits are being paid by Portugal. Correspondence issued to the Portuguese Authorities on 21 February 2011 querying entitlement to family benefits in Portugal under EU Regulations. While a reply has been received, the information contained therein requires further clarification. Correspondence to this effect was issued to the Portuguese Authorities on 18 May 2011 and a reminder issued on 12 September 2011. Separate correspondence also issued on March 3rd 2011 to the mother of the two children who are resident in Portugal. No reply has been received and a reminder will now issue.

A decision on entitlement to child benefit cannot be finalised until the information requested is received from the Portuguese authorities and from the mother of the children who are resident in Portugal.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare continues to qualify for their back-to-education allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24350/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The person concerned has been approved for the back to education allowance for the 2011-12 academic year.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 88: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the full rate of rent allowance payable in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24351/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the person concerned has been awarded rent supplement of €487.33 per month. The HSE has further advised that the rent payable in this case is in excess of the prescribed rent limit appropriate to his family circumstances. The HSE has informed the person concerned that he must secure alternative accommodation within the prescribed limit for his family circumstances by the end of September 2011.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kildare was not allowed to sign on for jobseeker's allowance.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24352/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The person concerned submitted an application for jobseeker's allowance with effect from 12 September 2011. Her application will be processed when she furnishes the documentation requested.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an application for rent support in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; the maximum rent support for families of this scale; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24353/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the persons concerned made an application for rent supplement on 6th September 2011. The HSE requested further information from the persons concerned in order to process their application. T he HSE will make a decision on the application when the requested information has been provided.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 91: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the amount of rent allowance payable in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24354/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the person concerned has been awarded rent supplement of €487.33 per month which is his full entitlement based on his personal circumstances.

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to ensure that the major delays that occurred in 2011 in the payment of the back to school allowance will not happen in the future and that an adequate number of staff be put in place with processing of applications. [24387/11]

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 to the end of September each year. The administrative arrangements for the 2011 Scheme are different from those that applied in previous years. For this year, the majority of Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance entitlements will be fully automated with no application form required from customers. This change to the administrative arrangements saw some 127,000 households receive their payment automatically in June of this year.

Customers who did not receive an automated payment are required to complete application forms which are being processed from one centralised unit within the Department of Social Protection. Manual applications have been accepted since the start of July and up to last Friday (9th September) 81,000 applications have been received. Claims continue to arrive at over 700 per day, however, this is down from a high of 3,000 per day received in the first two weeks of July, and 2,000 per day in the second two weeks of July, and 1,500 at the end of July/ beginning of August.

Of the 81,000 claims received almost 45,000 have been processed. 33,000 have been paid, 5,000 refused, 5,500 returned because there was insufficient information and there were 1,300 duplicate claims The Department is working to clear the claims as quickly as possible. 38 staff were originally provided to process these claims, an additional 14 staff were assigned in mid-August bringing the staff complement to 52. This number has now been increased to 60 staff with overtime also being worked.

The timescale for determining applications for BSCFA claims is dependant, among other things, on the availability of the required information, such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements, etc. 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.

It is proposed that when the 2011 scheme has been concluded a full review of the experience will be undertaken. Lessons learned will be documented for the future operation of the scheme.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue on an application for back to school clothing and footwear allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon; the reason for the delay in same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24390/11]

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.