Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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159. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for carer's allowance received, rejected and restored in each of the past six months to date in 2014; the extent to which individual circumstances were borne in mind before rejection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47240/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested payment to eligible people who are looking after a person who needs support because of age, disability or illness, including mental illness. Every decision made on eligibility or continued eligibility is dealt with on a case by case basis based upon the individual circumstances of each applicant or recipient which are relevant to the various qualifying conditions associated with CA.

Applicants and recipients are encouraged to provide complete and comprehensive information in support of their eligibility to help the Department make good quality and timely decisions. However, it is often not until a case is disallowed that the Department is provided with comprehensive information in support of eligibility.

Information on the number of applicants who were awarded following a review of a prior disallowance is not available.

The following tabular statement sets out the relevant available information.

Carer’s allowance claims received, allowed, rejected, and withdrawn by month