Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 May 2018
211. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of a review of an application for carer’s allowance by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21647/18]
View answerCarer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a person who has such a disability that they require that level of care.
My department received an application for CA from the person concerned on 22 November 2016. It is a condition for receipt of CA that every claimant shall furnish such certificates, documents, information and evidence as may be required for the purposes of deciding their claim.
The person was requested to provide bank statements and evidence pertaining to the cessation of his self-employment, but did not do so. Accordingly the deciding officer decided that he was not entitled to CA.
The person concerned was notified on 3 May 2017 of this decision, the reason for it and of his right of review and appeal.
A review of this decision was requested on 22 May 2017. Although some evidence was supplied on 25 July 2017, there were still documents outstanding. As a result, the deciding officer confirmed the original decision.
The person concerned was notified on 4 October 2017 of the outcome of this review and of his right of appeal.
Further documents were received on 4 April 2018 and the matter was referred again to the local social welfare inspector (SWI) to complete the earlier investigation that was suspended following the failure of the person concerned to supply documents as requested.
The file was received back from the SWI on 8 May 2018. The SWI reported that contrary to a previous declaration, the person concerned was engaged in employment outside his home up to January 2018. The person concerned stated that he was an employee yet was unable to show evidence or payslips that would confirm this or show how many hours per week he was working or what his earnings were.
On 11 May 2018 a deciding officer requested evidence of his earnings and hours of employment from the date of his application for CA up to January 2018.
On receipt of this information, the decision to disallow the application of the person concerned will be reviewed and he will be notified in writing of the outcome.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
