Written answers

Wednesday, 22 January 2025

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Social Welfare Appeals

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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872. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an invalidity pension appeal by a person (details supplied). [1043/25]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions.

I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision.

An Appeals Officer’s decision is generally final and conclusive and can only be revised in certain limited circumstances:

(i) by an Appeals Officer under Section 317 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 where new facts or evidence have been provided which were not before the Appeals Officer when he made his decision which, had they been before him, would have rendered the decision erroneous;

(ii) by the Chief Appeals Officer under Section 318 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 where it has been established that in making the decision the Appeals Officer has made a mistake in relation to the law or the facts; or

(iii) by an appeal to the High Court on any question of law in accordance with Section 327 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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873. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the application for the working family payment for persons (details supplied). [1074/25]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Working Family Payment (WFP) is an income-tested weekly payment which provides additional financial support to employees on low earnings with children. WFP provides financial support for employees who have low earnings/income relative to their family size. The WFP rate payable is 60% of the difference between the average weekly family income and the relevant prescribed income limit.

In order to qualify for WFP, a family's income must be below a prescribed limit which varies in accordance with the number of qualified children. All family and household income is assessable for WFP and includes an applicant's and their spouse/partner's average net weekly assessable earnings from employment plus any other income such as other social welfare payments, income from self-employment, etc.

To qualify for Working Family Payment the applicant or the applicant and their spouse, partner or cohabitant must be in employment working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight as defined in legislation.

An application from the person concerned was received on 10 October 2024, further documentation was requested and provided, the claim has been awarded from 17 October 2024.

Arrears due to the person concerned from the 17 October 2024 have issued.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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874. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an invalidity pension application by a person (details supplied). [1157/25]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Invalidity Pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and for no other reason and who satisfy the pay related social insurance contribution conditions.

The person concerned was awarded IP with effect from 24 October 2024 and received first payment to his nominated bank account on 9 January 2025. He received all arrears due to him for the period 24 October 2024 to 8 January 2025, less Illness Benefit paid during the overlapping period, to his account on 16 January 2025. The person referred to was notified of the decision in relation to his IP claim on 9 December 2024.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Photo of Marie SherlockMarie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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875. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when payments will recommence for a person (details supplied) further to the decision of the chief appeals officer regarding the unlawful disallowing of their claims for jobseeker's allowance and supplementary welfare in 2020, when they will receive the payments unlawfully withheld from them; the reasons for the continued delay in processing the claim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1177/25]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I wish to confirm that the Jobseeker's Allowance application for the person concerned has been awarded and any arrears due have been calculated.

All arrears payments due, including periods of Fuel Allowance entitlement, Christmas bonus payments, cost of living payments and annual budget changes have been included in the calculation and this payment is being processed this week for issue to the person concerned at the end of the week.

Photo of Marie SherlockMarie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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876. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an application for an invalidity pension by a person (details supplied) who has been waiting three years for a decision; the reason for the delay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1249/25]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Invalidity Pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.

The Department received a claim for IP for the person concerned on 7 June 2022. To qualify for IP, a claimant must have at least 260 (5 years) paid PRSI contributions since entering social insurance and 48 contributions paid or credited in the last or second last complete contribution years before the relevant date of their claim.

The person in question does not have the required 260 paid PRSI contributions in Ireland. The claim was refused on 1 July 2022 on the grounds that the contribution conditions for the scheme were not satisfied and the person referred to was notified of the decision on the same date.

As the person concerned had previously worked in Romania, a request was made to the Romanian Authorities for their social insurance contribution record. As is the procedure in such instances, an application was also made on her behalf to the Romanian Authorities for an equivalent IP payment from them. Her contribution record has now been received and she satisfies the contribution conditions for a pro-rata Invalidity Pension under Bilateral/EU Regulations. However, she must also satisfy the medical conditions for the scheme.

The Romanian Authorities have requested a detailed medical report (DMR) for the application with them which was made on behalf of the person in question by my Department. When completed, the same DMR will be used to establish if she satisfies the medical conditions for her IP claim here. The DMR was first requested from my Department's Medical Review & Assessment (MRA) Area on 18 April 2023 but has not been completed to date. Following further contact with MRA section, a Medical Assessor has now requested further medical evidence from the person referred to in order to complete the DMR and this information was requested from her by letter on 16 January 2025. When the additional medical information is received, it may be the case that the person concerned will be requested to attend for an in-person medical assessment for the purposes of completing the DMR. If an in-person medical assessment is required, arrangements will be made to have an appointment arranged for the individual in question at the earliest possible date.

The person referred to is currently in receipt of a Supplementary Welfare Allowance payment from my Department and she will continue to receive this payment while a decision is awaited on her IP application. The information also available to my Department indicates she may have an entitlement to Widows Contributory Pension and an application for this payment has issued to her.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

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