Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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278. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the availability of carer’s allowance in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45995/24]

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.

I can confirm that CA was in payment to the person concerned from 07 June 2012 to 07 September 2016.

The Department has not received any recent CA applications from the person concerned.

It is open to the person concerned to apply for CA by completing a CR1 application form for each person requiring care.

The person concerned will need to complete all the relevant sections and return the completed forms to the address below. A checklist is also included with the forms and should be used to review the applications before submitting.

The medical report does not need to be completed on the CR1 application form if the person concerned is applying for a child under the age of 16 in respect of whom Domiciliary Care Allowance is in payment.

The address of the Carer's Allowance Section is:

Carer's Allowance Section, Ballinalee Road, Longford, Co Longford, N39 E4E0.

Application forms have been forwarded by post to the address of the person concerned. A return envelope has been included for convenience.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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279. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to indicate notwithstanding the response to previous PQs in the case of a person (details supplied), if the matter could be reviewed in this context with a view to granting ENP; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46009/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income. The ANP scheme is means tested and administered by Designated Persons (DPs) in the Community Welfare Service, taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance. Guaranteed payment of an ANP cannot be taken as an automatic entitlement.

I would refer the Deputy to your previous Dáil Question No. 246 answered on 17th October which outlined that the persons concerned applied for an ANP to assist with the cost of furnishing their new home. This claim was disallowed on the basis that the persons had sufficient means available to them in the form of savings to cover the expenses from their own resources. A letter advising the persons concerned of this outcome and affording them the opportunity to seek a review of the decision issued to them on 14/09/2024.

A Reviewing Officer reviewed the claim made by the persons concerned and considering the circumstances of the case, upheld the original decision made by the DP. This position has not changed and an additional letter has been sent by the SWA Reviewing Officer to the persons concerned confirming that the review decision remains upheld.

As previously advised to the Deputy in my reply to Dáil Question No. 246, if the persons concerned feel that they have been treated unfairly, they have the right of recourse to contact The Office of the Ombudsman, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773, Telephone number: 01-639 5600 / 1890 22 30 30, Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.ie.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.