Written Answers Nos. 171 to 179
171. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive a decision on their application for domiciliary care allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23146/13]
View answerAn application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on 9 April 2013. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Upon receipt of this opinion, a decision will issue to the person concerned. It can take up to 8 weeks to process an application for DCA.
172. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 317 of 30 April 2013, the length of time it took to review each of the 39 appeals conducted by the Chief Appeals Officer in the past year. [23175/13]
View answerI am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the information in relation to the time taken for each of the 39 reviews is not available.
Processing times in relation to appeals are measured and reported by an ICT system in the Appeals Office. Reviews by the Chief Appeals Officer are not tracked on this system.
When a review is requested, the files in question are recalled from the Department and, following the review, all papers are returned to the Department.
175. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) has been refused jobseeker's payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23255/13]
View answerThe person concerned was refused jobseeker’s benefit by a Deciding Officer of the Department on the grounds that he was not available for full-time work and was not genuinely seeking full-time employment.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned together with the relevant Departmental papers were received by that office on 03 May 2013 and that the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare entitlements.
176. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the delay in a revised decision on disability allowance in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23256/13]
View answerThe person’s claim is with the deciding officer for review and she will be notified shortly in writing of the outcome.
178. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form a breakdown on a yearly basis of the legal and travel costs her Department has incurred as a result of litigation in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the General Court in Luxembourg and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg from the years 2005 to 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23319/13]
View answerThe extent to which my Department has been involved in litigation at the Courts of Justice of the European Union or the European Court of Human Rights is very limited. During the period in question my Department was represented at two cases; one in relation to a referral from the Irish Courts and one where Ireland was intervening in a case in which we had an interest in the decision of the Court. Travel expenses for these cases amounted to €911.37 in 2012 and €595.36 in 2011. Any legal costs associated with the cases were incurred by the Office of the Attorney General and/or the Chief State Solicitors Office.
179. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will publish in tabular form for the years 2008 - 2012 inclusive, the number of new applications for the invalidly pension that were received; the number of these applications that were refused and of these the number that were granted on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23332/13]
View answerA breakdown of invalidity claims awarded and disallowed is not available from December 2010 - 2011. A dual payments system was in operation from December 2010 until all claims were migrated onto a new computer platform in May 2011.
INVALIDITY PENSION CLAIMS
|
Year |
Received |
Awarded |
Disallowed |
Total Decided |
|
2008 |
7757 |
5431 |
2165 |
7596 |
|
2009 |
7475 |
4580 |
2933 |
7513 |
|
2010 |
8774 |
3445* |
3411* |
7614 |
|
2011 |
14621 |
2107# |
4697# |
12829 |
|
2012 |
11510 |
6352 |
11423 |
17775 |
*Breakdown for period January 2010 - November 2010 inclusive.
#Breakdown for period June 2011 - December 2011 inclusive.
Invalidity Pension Appeals - 2008 - 2012
|
Year |
Appeals Allowed |
Appeals Partly Allowed |
Revised Deciding Officer Decision(*) |
Total with Favourable Outcome |
|
2008 |
233 |
1 |
78 |
312 |
|
2009 |
243 |
1 |
82 |
326 |
|
2010 |
341 |
6 |
185 |
532 |
|
2011 |
408 |
6 |
345 |
759 |
|
2012 |
1,031 |
4 |
474 |
1,509 |
(*) Where a person has received a decision to disallow a payment, it is open to them to ask for a review by a deciding officer. These figures reflect those cases where a disallowed claim was revised on review by a deciding officer prior to determination by an Appeals Officer. Generally these cases arise where a person submits additional information, not already considered, in support of their claim following a decision to disallow.
