Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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254. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of a person (details supplied) who has been waiting eight months for a decision to be made in respect of his appeal of a rejected application for the working family payment; if he is aware of the undue hardship and distress this causes the appellant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24990/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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 reason for this decision is that the customer’s income exceeded the weekly income threshold for their family size. The customer has been advised of the increased weekly thresholds introduced in January 2025 and that a new application can be submitted to assess potential entitlement under those revised thresholds.

The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.