Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013
331. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the decision to withhold the respite care grant of €1,375 in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Laois as this is basically for the benefit of their child and that there is an agreement in place regarding the previous overpayment of amounts from her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33422/13]
View answerThe person concerned has a substantial overpayment of almost €59,000, most of which remains to be recovered, and it is in this context that it was decided to offset arrears due to her against the overpayment. The person concerned was communicated with and given an opportunity to comment on the proposal before the decision to withhold the moneys was made. Her comments were considered and a decision made to withhold this amount.
The person concerned was awarded domiciliary care allowance (DCA) on appeal recently and the arrears of DCA due for the months February to June 2013 along with the respite care grant (RCG) amounting to over €2,900 have now been withheld to reduce the amount outstanding to be repaid to the Department. Under the current repayment agreement in place, it will take over 20 years to repay the amount overpaid. The RCG payable in respect of two other children in the family, who are also in receipt of DCA and amounting to €2,750, was paid in June 2013.
