Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 November 2015
118. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will re-examine an application for a carer's allowance by a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41410/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraCarer’s allowance (CA) is a payment made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to relevant persons with disabilities who require that level of care and whose income falls below certain limits.
An application for CA was received on 12/2/2014 in respect of the relevant person and CA was subsequently awarded from 13/2/2014.
Where an applicant can show good cause as to why they did not apply at an earlier date, an application can be backdated a maximum of 6 months. Where they can show that the failure to make a claim was due to incorrect information given by an officer of this Department or because they were too incapacitated to make a claim, the application can be backdated further.
The person concerned applied to have his CA payment backdated but supplied little detail concerning the reason(s) that the application was not made at the relevant time. The deciding officer has, based on the evidence supplied, disallowed back-dating in this case and that decision has been reviewed and upheld. The person concerned was notified on 20 November 2015 of this decision, the reasons for it and of his right of appeal.
However, it is open to the person in question to supply further details in relation to the reasons for not applying for CA in time and the department will be happy to look into the circumstances and to review the decision again.
