Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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316. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to investigate an issue (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40071/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The customer incurred an overpayment of €173.33 while on Illness Benefit from the period 14th June 2022 to the 18th of June 2022. This debt was raised on 18th July 2022 and remains outstanding.

A letter was issued to the customer on 18th July 2022 requesting repayment of the outstanding debt. The letter included a sentence referencing that Illness Benefit payments can issue to either the customer or the employer. The letter also provided contact details if the customer wished to provide any relevant facts or circumstances in relation to the overpayment. It further stated that the customer could provide consent to correspond directly with the employer if they wished to do so.

In this case, the payment was made directly to the employer. The outstanding debt will remain in place until it has been repaid in full but there will be no further correspondence sent to the customer regarding this overpayment.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.