Carers allowance was awarded to the person concerned from 5 April 2001. Following a review of her claim she was notified by the Deciding Officer in December 2005 that she was not entitled to carers allowance for the period from 12 June 2003 to 8 December 2004 on the grounds that she is employed outside the home for more than ten hours per week.
The person appealed this decision on 8 February 2006 to the Social Welfare Appeals Office, which acts independently of my Department. On 21 February 2006, in accordance with the statutory requirements, the relevant departmental papers, including a submission from the Deciding Officer, were sought from my Department by the Chief Appeals Officer. The papers were returned to the Appeals Office on 22 December 2006 and were referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing of the case in week commencing 26 February 2007. The person will be informed of the date, time and venue as soon as the final arrangements have been made.
I wish to assure you that this Department is committed to providing a quality customer service to all its customers and to ensuring continuous improvement in the standard of services we provide. This includes ensuring that applications are processed, decisions on entitlement and appeal submissions are completed as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply.
In this case, there was a delay in completing the appeal submission due to the high volume of cases which are required be dealt with and the limited resources available to deal with them. My Department is engaged in an ongoing process to ensure that available resources are prioritised to the greatest extent possible on front line service delivery and to ensure that the best possible standard of response is provided across the range of schemes and services. The position will be kept under review to ensure that the best possible customer service continues to be provided.
Under Social Welfare Legislation decisions in relation to claims must be made by Deciding Officers and Appeals Officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.
