Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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395. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on a carers allowance (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42145/23]

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.

A person can be providing full-time care and attention where they are engaged in employment, self-employment or on training courses for a maximum 18.5 hours per week, provided that they can show to the satisfaction of a deciding officer that adequate care has been provided for the care recipient in their absence.

The Department received two applications for CA from the person concerned on 27 February 2023.

Both applications for CA was disallowed on the grounds that the person concerned was engaged in employment for more than the maximum permitted number of hours per week.

The person concerned was notified on 25 April 2023 of this decision, the reason for it and of their right of review and appeal.

On 12 May 2023, the person concerned requested a review of this decision and submitted additional evidence in support of their application. Following examination of this, a request for additional information issued on 24 August 2023 regarding the person's schedule of hours and payslips.

On 4 September 2023, the Department received the schedule of hours and a letter from her employer. On 21 September 2023, a further request issued to person as, according to information received from Revenue, certain earnings appeared to be different to the evidence provided by the applicant.

On 27 September 2023, the application was referred to a local Social Welfare Inspector to assess these discrepancies and to confirm whether the hours of employment are within the conditions for receipt of CA.

Once the SWI has reported, a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Rent supplement continues to play a key role in supporting families and individuals in private rented accommodation, with the scheme supporting 8,540 active recipients at the end of August 2023. The provisional expenditure for rent supplement paid by the Department of Social Protection at end of August 2023 was €42.6 million.

The scheme provides short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The scheme ensures that those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed due to temporary loss of employment or income, can continue to meet their rental commitments.

Rent supplement recipients by county is provided in the attached tabular statement.

Tabular Statement

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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397. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on a case (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42175/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has such a disability that they require that level of care.

An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 16 June 2023.

It is a condition for receipt of CA that the applicant’s means are less than the statutory limit.

Means are any income belonging to the carer and their spouse / civil partner / cohabitant, property (except their own home) or an asset that could bring in money or provide them with an income, for example occupational pensions, or pensions or benefits from another country.

The application for CA was disallowed as the means of the person concerned were determined to exceed the statutory limit.

The person concerned was notified on 8 July 2023 of this decision, the reason for it and their right of review and appeal.

A review of this decision was requested on 7 September 2023 and, following this review, the deciding officer found that the means still exceeded the statutory limit and that, consequently, there would be no change to the original decision.

The person concerned was notified on 26 September 2023 of this review decision, the reason for it and of their right of review and appeal.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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398. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on a case (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42178/23]

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.

An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 28 June 2023.

A person can be considered to be providing full-time care and attention where they are engaged in employment, self-employment or on training courses for a maximum of 18.5 hours per week, provided that they can show to the satisfaction of a deciding officer that adequate care has been provided for the care recipient in their absence.

The application for CA was disallowed on the grounds that person concerned was engaged in a Community Employment scheme for more than 18.5 hours per week.

The person concerned was notified on 31 July 2023 of this decision, the reason for it and of their right of review and appeal.

The person concerned requested a review of this decision and submitted additional evidence in support of their application.

Following a review of this information, CA was awarded to the person concerned on 26 September 2023, with effect from 14 September 2023.

The first payment will issue to their nominated bank account on 5 October 2023.

Arrears for the period 14 September 2023 to 4 October 2023 will issue on 5 October 2023.

The person concerned was notified on 26 September 2023 of the revised decision, the reason for it and of their right of review and appeal.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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399. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on an application for disability allowance (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42181/23]

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, means test and Habitual Residency conditions.

I confirm that my Department received an application for DA from the person concerned on 30 January 2023. As their initial application did not contain all the information required to make decision, an information request letter was sent to the person concerned on 3 February 2023. The information request allows the person 21 days to provide the required information in order to determine eligibility for DA.

As the person concerned failed to supply the requested information, their means could not be determined and the claim was disallowed on this basis. The person was notified of the decision in writing on 22 March 2023 and advised of their entitlement to request a review/appeal of the decision. They were also notified of the outstanding documents required to determine means.

On 13 April 2023, the person concerned submitted part of the outstanding documents. A review of the claim was initiated and an information request for the rest of the outstanding documents issued on 2 May 2023. I can confirm that only part of the requested documentation were submitted on 16 May 2023.

As the person concerned failed to supply all requested information, their means could not be determined and the claim was disallowed on this basis. They were notified of the decision in writing on 26 May 2023 and advised of their entitlement to request a review/appeal of the decision. They were also notified of the outstanding documents required to determine means.

Following contact from the person concerned, the information request of 2 May 2023 was reissued on 19 June 2023. I can confirm that the outstanding information was supplied on 28 June 2023.

The application was referred to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) for a report on the person’s means and circumstances. The SWI submitted their report on 18 August 2023.

Following a review of all available information, it was determined that the weekly means of the person concerned were €378.98 which is higher than the statutory limit of €346.00. The person concerned was notified of the decision to disallow their claim by letter on 27 September 2023. They were also informed of their entitlement to request a review/appeal of the decision. I can confirm that, to date, a request for review/appeal has not been received.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.