I propose to take Questions Nos. 1316 and 1317 together.
The Guardian's payment schemes allow for the provision of a weekly allowance to a guardian of a child who has either been orphaned or whose parents have abandoned and failed to provide for the child.
Section 2 (1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 defines an orphan as a qualified child both of whose parents are dead, or one of whose parents is dead or unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child, as the case may be, and whose other parent is unknown, or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child, where that child is not residing with a parent, adoptive parent or step-parent.
All claims for Guardian's payment are decided by a Deciding Officer appointed by the Minister under Section 299 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005. Prior to decision, claims are referred to a Social Welfare Inspector in order to establish if the conditions of entitlement are fulfilled. The Social Welfare Inspector completes a report on all relevant issues and this report is then referred to the Deciding Officer to make a decision on the claim.
A parent's committal to prison alone is not considered sufficient qualifying criteria to satisfy the legislative definition of orphan. However, the incarceration of a parent is one of the factors which is considered in determining if the legislative provision relating to abandonment and failure to provide is satisfied. Where a child whose parent/s have been incarcerated is cared for by another person for the period of that incarceration and their carer is in receipt of a social welfare payment, an increase for a qualified child may be payable for each child.
A Foster Care Allowance is paid by the HSE in respect of a child who is in the care of the State. The legislative change in 2005 was solely to ensure that two state payments, Foster Care and Guardians Payment, were not being made in respect of the same child.