Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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433. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason behind the inordinately long delays in processing carers allowance applications and appeals (details supplied). [36027/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that all applications and reviews are processed as quickly as possible. The average number of weeks to award a Carer’s Allowance application in August 2024 was 6 weeks, compared to an average of 14 weeks in 2019. Where any scheme area experiences delays, all possible steps are taken to improve processing times. This can include the assignment of additional resources where available, the review of business processes, all to ensure the efficient processing of applications.

In general, social welfare schemes such as Carer’s Allowance which have a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process. For example, to qualify for Carer's Allowance, the carer must show that they are habitually resident in the State, that they are providing full-time care and attention to a person who requires this level of care, and that their means are less than the statutory limit.

An application for Carer’s Allowance was received from the person concerned on 16 March 2023.

As part of the decision process, the application was referred for the professional opinion of a Department Medical Assessor. The claim was disallowed as the Deciding Officer, having regard to the opinion of the Medical Assessor, decided that the information supplied did not show that the care recipient required full time care.

The person concerned was notified of this decision in writing on 24 April 2023. They were also notified of their right to have the decision reviewed (where further information is available) or to appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

A request to appeal this decision was lodged with the Department in June 2023 and forwarded to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) on 5 July 2023. The appeal was disallowed on 5 October 2023 and the original decision was upheld. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 5 October 2023.

Following receipt of further information on 19 January 2024, a review of the appeal decision was initiated by the SWAO. The decision remained unchanged, and the person was notified in writing of this on 26 July 2024.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.