Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 123: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) in County Limerick who is caring for their 79 year old mother, has been waiting more than eight months for a decision as to whether or not they are entitled to a carer's allowance when the medical problems that affect their mother are becoming more severe by the day. [11746/12]

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 16 August 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 17 January 2012 and the appeal was assigned to an Appeals Officer for consideration on 27 January 2012. There was a significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office between 2007, when the intake was 14,070, and 2010 and 2011 when the intake rose to 32,432 and 31,241 respectively. This has had a significant impact on the processing time for appeals. In order to be fair to all appellants, they are dealt with in strict chronological order. 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.