Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Paternity Benefit is payable for 2 weeks to employed and self-employed parents who take Paternity Leave from employment and who satisfy certain PRSI conditions on their own insurance record. The leave must be taken within 26 weeks after the birth of the child.

Applicants must complete a Paternity Benefit application, including a submission from the employer confirming the dates of the Paternity Leave, within six months of the date of leave. All claims that are received after the time allowed are considered Late Claims.

The Paternity Benefit section received an application for Paternity Benefit from the person concerned on 1 November 2022. In this application, he confirmed that his daughter was born on 19 October 2021 and that he had taken his Paternity Leave from 28 February 2022 to 12 March 2022. As the application for Paternity Benefit was received outside the six months time limit from the Paternity Leave dates, his claim was considered under the late claim legislation and disallowed.

In December 2022, the person concerned submitted an appeal to The Social Welfare Appeals Office. The appeal was disallowed on 16 May 2022 and a letter issued to the person concerned confirming this decision.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.