Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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324. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed; when their carer’s payment will be revised upwards to the full rate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10663/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care.

If a person is in receipt of another social welfare payment in their own right (other than unemployment payments or supplementary welfare allowance) or being claimed as a qualified adult on their spouse/partner's payment, a half-rate carer's allowance can be paid too as long as all the normal conditions for receipt of CA are satisfied.

The person concerned is in receipt of Illness Benefit since 21 February 2020. As a result, CA is being paid to her at half-rate.

The person concerned contacted the department on 24 March 2020 requesting that her payment be re-rated to full rate. As the person was in receipt of Illness Benefit at the time she was not entitled to full-rate CA. Therefore, her payment was not re-rated to full-rate.

If the circumstances of the person concerned changes and she is no longer in receipt of Illness Benefit, she can contact Carer's Allowance who will review her claim and re-rate her CA payment to full-rate. The Department will contact the person concerned directly to clarify the conditions for receipt of full-rate CA.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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325. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will examine a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10668/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16 and 17, if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves.

An application for Child Benefit was received from the person concerned on 28^thOctober 2021 and has been awarded with effect from 1st November 2021, the month following receipt of the claim.

Social Welfare legislation provides that Child Benefit claims should be submitted within 12 months of eligibility commencing. In the circumstances of this application, eligibility commenced from August 2017 when the family entered the state.

Legislation further provides that Child Benefit payment may be backdated where the applicant can show that there was good cause for the failure to claim earlier. Lack of knowledge of the Child Benefit scheme or the eligibility criteria pertaining to the payment is not in itself considered good cause for the delay in making a claim.

In the case of the person concerned, they advised that they were not initially aware of the benefit and that the pandemic made it difficult to gather the required documentation. They advised that they became aware of the benefit just prior to the pandemic.

Department records show that the person concerned was aware of the Child Benefit scheme at time of application for their PPS number on 31/10/2017. The deciding officer found that the person concerned had not shown that there was good cause for the delay in making their claim, as the person concerned did not apply for Child Benefit within the prescribed time. The claim has been awarded from the 1^stday of the month following that in which the claim was made in accordance with the relevant legislation.

The person concerned was notified of this decision and advised of their right of appeal.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.