Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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261. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an application by a person (details supplied); when the application will be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5730/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department has allocated a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) to the individual referred to by the Deputy.

A letter confirming the details of her PPSN issued to her on 31st January 2023.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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262. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the current status of a disability allowance review for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5739/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66.  This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and Habitual Residency conditions.

I can confirm that the person concerned is in receipt of  DA effective from 05 August 2009 and currently  assessed with nil means.

The DA of the person concerned is currently under review.

An information request letter from a  Deciding Officer (DO) issued to the person concerned on 01 February 2023.This letter clearly set out all of the required information needed to complete the review and  that 21 days are allowed for the return of the  requested  Information.

Compensation awards by way of the Residential Institutions Redress Board established under Section 3 of the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 (No. 13 of 2002) and any subsequent income from investment of that money are exempt from means assessment.

The person concerned must  provide documentary evidence confirming that  his compensation was awarded by the Residential Institutions Redress Board and that the award was subsequently invested in a rental property - under current legislation, the rent earned on that property investment would then be exempt from the means calculation.

In general, properties other than a person’s principal residence are assessable for means purposes for DA.  The capital assessable is the current value less any outstanding mortgage

The formula for assessing capital for  means purposes for Disability Allowance  is as follows:

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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263. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of a domiciliary care allowance claim in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork. [5752/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, substantially over and above the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care for at least 12 months. 

An application for DCA in respect of their child was received from the person concerned on 18 October 2021. Their application was disallowed as per decision dated 27 January 2022, as their child was not considered to satisfy the conditions for DCA.  The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision and of the right of review and/or appeal.

According to our records a request for an appeal of the deciding officer's decision was received from the person concerned via the department on 13 September 2022.  Their late appeal request and  associated appeal papers were subsequently forwarded to the Independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) on 15 September 2022 for consideration by that office.

The right of appeal to the independent SWAO is time limited and is normally subject to 21 days from the date of the department's decision. However, the Chief Appeals Officer has discretion to extend the appeal time limit in certain limited circumstances.

The SWAO has been contacted and has confirmed that a written communication was issued on 29 September 2022 to the person concerned, which advised that their late appeal had not been accepted.

It is open to the person concerned to request a review(s) of the deciding officer's decision of 27 January 2022 and this right is not time limited. If requesting a review of a deciding officer's decision, the person concerned may provide any further new relevant information or documentary evidence that was not previously available to the department for further consideration by a deciding officer.  Additionally, the applicant also retains the right to subsequently appeal any review decision directly to the independent SWAO, including in cases where the deciding officer's original decision remains unchanged following a review(s)

 I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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264. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a decision will be reached on the application for carer’s allowance by a person (details supplied). [5775/23]

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.

I confirm that my Department received an application for Carer's Allowance (CA) review from the person concerned on 6 December 2022. Additional information in relation to the person’s application was requested by a Deciding Officer (DO) on 2 February 2023.

Once the information is received the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

My Department also received an application for Carer's Allowance (CA) for a second care recipient on 30 January 2023. Additional information in relation to the person’s application was requested by a Deciding Officer (DO) on 1 February 2023.

Once the information is received the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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265. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress to date in respect of an appeal for domiciliary care allowance in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5780/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. 

The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 25 August 2022.  It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought.  These papers were returned to the Appeals Office on 3 October 2022 and referred on 28 October 2022 to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if necessary, hold an oral hearing. 

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.