Vol. 577 No. 3
582 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo has been assessed as being overpaid ?11,284.50 in one-parent family allowance in view of the fact that they telephoned and wrote to her Department notifying them of the change in their circumstances yet their book payments continued to issue; and the reason this matter was not dealt with by her Department when notified of the person's employment. [30735/03]
In April of this year, my Department commenced a review of the one-parent family payment scheme to examine the entitlement of clients identified as having earnings from employment at a level above the statutory limit for receipt of the payment and who had not notified the Department of this fact. The person concerned came within this category. My Department has no record of having received any communication from the person concerned, either verbally or written, in respect of her increased earnings arising from a change of employment in March 2001. She has been given full details of the facts taken into account by the deciding officer and of her right of appeal. An appeal has been accepted and forwarded to the social welfare appeals office which will contact her in due course. Under social welfare legislation, decisions in respect of claims are made by deciding officers and appeals officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I have no role in regard to making such decisions.
