Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is satisfied with the system in operation that notifies long term recipients of carer's allowance that they are no longer eligible for the payment without a current assessment of the person in care and without leaving the applicant sufficient time to reapply for the allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46226/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Carer’s Allowance is a payment to people who are looking after a person who needs support because of age, physical or learning disability or illness (including mental illness). To be eligible for carer’s allowance you must satisfy certain criteria. Some of the main conditions are that you must be 18 years of age or over and providing full-time care and attention to a person in need of care who does not normally live in an institution; you must be resident in the State and you must not be engaged in employment, self-employment, training or education courses outside the home for more than 15 hours a week.

The person being cared for must be over the age of 16 and be so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention or aged under 16 and in receipt of a Domiciliary Care Allowance. Domiciliary care allowance ceases when a child reaches the age of 16 but carer’s allowance may continue if it is established that child is so incapacitated as to require full-time care. In such instances, a letter issues from the carer’s allowance section to the carer requesting medical information to be submitted for the caree prior to the child turning 16 years of age. Once this medical information is received, it is sent to one of the Department’s medical assessors for assessment. The carer’s allowance remains in payment during the review process until a decision is made.

Where payment is stopped as a result of a review, the customer can submit any new information or medical evidence they may wish to have considered and that information will be further examined by a medical assessor. It will avoid undue delay if a customer being reviewed submits all available and relevant information and evidence at the outset. In addition, a customer who is not satisfied with a decision may appeal the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.