Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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Question 279: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if an application for a domiciliary care allowance payment will be back dated (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12680/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received in the Department on 17th July 2009 and this application was awarded on appeal on 23rd March 2011. DCA is payable from the month following receipt of the application unless good cause is shown for the delay. Where good cause is shown, it can be backdated by a maximum of six months or to April 2009 (when the Department took over administration of the scheme from the HSE), whichever is the most recent. The person concerned did not indicate any reason for the delay in claiming the payment and, as a result, the allowance was put into payment from August 2009, the month after the application was received in the Department.

If the person concerned wishes to make an application for backdating, she should do so in writing, stating clearly the reason the application was not made at the earliest opportunity. As the Department took over responsibility for the DCA scheme in April 2009, this is the earliest date that payment can be backdated if good cause for the late claim is shown.