Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
515. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the application of Catherine's Law for a person (details supplied) who has been stripped of the disability allowance due to a Ph.D scholarship; the measures that will be put in place to prevent this situation in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24699/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned was disallowed Disability Allowance from 26 September 2018, as their means were higher than the statutory limit. Upon request, a Departmental review was undertaken in October 2018 and the decision was upheld. The person in question appealed the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO). The appeal was disallowed by an Appeals Officer on 27 February 2019.
Further representations were received by the SWAO and in July 2019, the Appeals Officer reviewed all of the evidence on file in light of the correspondence received and was satisfied that a revision of the decision was not warranted. Accordingly, the original decision of 27 February 2019 was upheld and the customer was made aware of the decision in August 2019.
Regulations signed which exclude scholarship stipends for PhD students from the Disability Allowance means test, came into effect from 1st September 2020 which will serve to ensure that this issue will not arise in respect of future applications.
Customers that were disallowed Disability Allowance due to the stipend payment prior to 1st September 2020 may complete a new application form and it will be processed in the normal manner. The person concerned has been in touch with the Department and a Disability Allowance application form has been posted to their home address.
A completed application form for DA must be submitted to the Department in order to have eligibility checked and a formal decision made on entitlement.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
