Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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52. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision on a respite care grant appeal will issue in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16251/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The respite care grant (RCG) is an annual payment made to full-time carers who satisfy certain conditions. The grant is payable automatically to carers who are in receipt of carer’s allowance on the first Thursday in June of the relevant year, and the person in question received the grant in 2014 in respect of two care recipients.

The person in question applied for the RCG for a third care recipient but the medical criteria was not satisfied for receipt of the grant and therefore no payment was made for the third care recipient in 2014. No appeal on this decision was received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

I can confirm that the department received a further application/medical report for RCG for the third care recipient on 4 February 2015. The application is currently being processed and once completed the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.