Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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455. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 323 of 27 February 2024, the meaning of travel itinerary; what information must be included in this as evidence of travel; if a signed letter from the DA recipient outlining the dates they will be abroad is acceptable; and the legal basis for requesting and holding the travel data of DA recipients. [10612/24]

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.

Under section 249 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005, except in certain exceptional circumstances, DA is not payable for any period in respect of which the customer is absent from the state under Section 249 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. On an administrative basis, DA provides for two weeks holiday entitlement in any twelve-month period.

To enable this arrangement, a travel itinerary should detail the dates and destinations of travel, coinciding with the period of absence from the state. A signed letter specifying these arrangements can serve as evidence but may occasionally need to be accompanied by additional proof of travel arrangements.

Data is retained in line with the Department's data retention policy.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.