Seán Sherlock
Ceist:263. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of a domiciliary care allowance claim in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork. [5752/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 8 February 2023
Ceisteanna (263)
Freagraí scríofa
Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, substantially over and above the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care for at least 12 months.
An application for DCA in respect of their child was received from the person concerned on 18 October 2021. Their application was disallowed as per decision dated 27 January 2022, as their child was not considered to satisfy the conditions for DCA. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision and of the right of review and/or appeal.
According to our records a request for an appeal of the deciding officer's decision was received from the person concerned via the department on 13 September 2022. Their late appeal request and associated appeal papers were subsequently forwarded to the Independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) on 15 September 2022 for consideration by that office.
The right of appeal to the independent SWAO is time limited and is normally subject to 21 days from the date of the department's decision. However, the Chief Appeals Officer has discretion to extend the appeal time limit in certain limited circumstances.
The SWAO has been contacted and has confirmed that a written communication was issued on 29 September 2022 to the person concerned, which advised that their late appeal had not been accepted.
It is open to the person concerned to request a review(s) of the deciding officer's decision of 27 January 2022 and this right is not time limited. If requesting a review of a deciding officer's decision, the person concerned may provide any further new relevant information or documentary evidence that was not previously available to the department for further consideration by a deciding officer. Additionally, the applicant also retains the right to subsequently appeal any review decision directly to the independent SWAO, including in cases where the deciding officer's original decision remains unchanged following a review(s)
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.