Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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222. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding a debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14242/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The debt in question occurred as the person concerned was absent from the State without notification to my Department from 5 November 2011 to 27 December 2012. Disability allowance (DA) was disallowed for that period as DA is not payable to persons while outside the State. The person concerned appealed this decision to the Social Welfare Appeal Office (SWAO) but the appeal against the revised decision was disallowed.

My department is obliged to recoup any debt owing to it in an appropriate and timely manner. There are no valid grounds for the balance of this debt to be written off.

The original debt amounted to €24,792 and the balance as at 1 June 2016 is €18,819.20. He is currently repaying €10 per week. The repayment of debt to the department is governed by guidelines. Those guidelines allow for the means and other circumstances of the debtor to be taken into account in deciding upon an appropriate recovery plan. If the person concerned wishes my Department to consider reducing the amount of weekly repayment, they should apply in writing to DA section and include as much information as possible about their weekly outgoings. On receipt of this information, a deciding officer will review the current recovery amount.