Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2021
357. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will define what is considered a good reason for not making a social welfare claim within the time limit; if she will consider not knowing about eligibility for the payment to be a good reason for women not in control of their household’s finances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32756/21]
View answerThe primary legislation governing the manner and time limits within which claims for social welfare payments should be made is set out in Section 241 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended, and associated regulations. The legislation requires that persons must claim their entitlements within a specific period from the date their entitlement arises. This is referred to as the 'prescribed time'. The prescribed time for making a claim differs depending on the relevant scheme and once a claim is made within the prescribed time for that particular payment, it is automatically backdated to the date of entitlement.
Where a claim is made after the prescribed time, a statutory disqualification or disallowance is incurred for any period falling outside the relevant time limits. However, the legislation gives deciding officers and designated persons some discretion to consider backdating a claim entitlement date subject to prescribed limits. Regulations allow for circumstances where the claimant establishes to the satisfaction of a deciding officer or designated person that there was ‘good cause’ for any delay in making a claim, that they were inadvertently misinformed by an officer of the Department or incapacitated and unable to make the claim on time.
Each late claim is assessed by deciding officers on a case by case basis taking into account the contentions and evidence put forward by the applicant to explain the cause of the delay. The deciding officer may decide to backdate the payment, for a maximum period of up to 6 months in respect of most schemes, depending on the circumstances. Backdating of a late claim beyond 6 months can be considered only in two specific circumstances whereby the failure to claim arose as the result of either incorrect information being supplied by the Department or the claimant’s incapacity due to illness or infirmity.
The existing legislation allows a Deciding Officer the discretion to back date payment where he/she is satisfied that the claimant had ‘good cause’ for failing to apply within the prescribed time, provided of course that the claimant was eligible during the 6 months.
'Good cause' is not defined in the legislation, and is assessed by deciding officers by the application of common sense principles to the contentions put forward by the person concerned and by the evaluation of the evidence available to support those contentions.
Lack of knowledge is not regarded as a sufficient reason for not claiming in time. The Department publishes information regarding its schemes, including the time limits for making a claim, as widely as possible in a range of formats, and advertises changes of legislation in the National Press. Information Offices are also available throughout the country for people to make enquiries as to their entitlements.
All statutory decisions with regard to entitlement under these provisions, made by deciding officers and designated persons, can be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
The Department has published information and operational guidelines on Claims and Late Claims on gov.ie.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
