Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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395. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason her Department is vigorously pursuing the only next of kin (details supplied) for overpayments made by her Department to their now deceased mother, for non-contributory pension overpayments dating back ten years from 2022, and that her Department has also included their credit union savings and State savings as assets too; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41217/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Social welfare legislation provides that the Personal Representative of a deceased person who, at any time, received a means-tested payment, is obliged to give notice to my Department of their intention to distribute the deceased's estate, to provide a schedule of the assets of the estate and is requested not to distribute the estate until they receive formal clearance from my Department. If, on examination of the schedule of assets, it is found that not all of the deceased’s means had been disclosed, or if the values of previously assessed means have changed, my Department will seek to recover any monies overpaid from the estate.

The deceased person concerned was in receipt of State Pension (Non-contributory).

On 25 September 2024, the Deciding Officer made a decision to raise an overpayment and issued correspondence with calculations to that effect. This letter also outlined the process and timeframe for appealing the decision.

The basis for the overpayment is that, due to undisclosed means, the deceased received a higher rate of State Pension (Non-contributory) to that which she was entitled, which must now be recovered by my Department. For the purposes of the means test, cash income, including income from employment, foreign pensions, the value of any property (excluding a person’s own home), and the value of any savings and investments which a person or their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant holds, are assessable.

On 3 October 2024, the Legal Representatives wrote to the Deciding Officer requesting additional time to decide whether the estate would appeal the decision to raise an overpayment. This additional time was being requested as the Legal Representatives were on leave.

The Deciding Officer replied on 4 October explaining that the timeframe for appeal was a matter for the Independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. However, the Deciding Officer offered to review the case which would grant additional time for the estate to respond. The Deciding Officer is waiting on a decision from the estate's representatives in this regard.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.