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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2004

Chapter 2 - Department of Social and Family Affairs - Carer's Allowance

In this following case involving the Department of Social and Family Affairs I was able to unearth fresh evidence to show that a man caring for his frail elderly mother met the criteria for the award of a Carer’s Allowance.

Carer’s Allowance (CA) is a means-tested payment for carers on low incomes who live with and look after certain people who need full-time care and attention. The requirement to provide full-time care and attention is assessed on an individual basis. It is not intended, nor is it desirable, that a carer would be expected to provide care on a 24 hour basis. In this regard, in assessing the level of care and attention, the Department of Social and Family Affairs says it applies the principles of providing such care and attention in a flexible manner, having due regard to both the needs of the carer and the person requiring care.

A public representative complained to me on behalf of a man whose application for CA in November 2002 had been rejected by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The Department considered he was not providing full-time care and attention in respect of his mother as required by the terms and conditions of the CA scheme. He appealed the rejection to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) but his appeal was not upheld. The main reason for the disallowance was a report from a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) which said that the man had told him he spent eight hours a day working on the family farm.

I examined the relevant files and, from the details contained therein, I decided it would be appropriate to get more information from the man about the situation. Following my contact with him he categorically denied that he spent eight hours a day working on the farm and he supplied me with specific details of the care and attention he was providing for his mother. He indicated to me that his mother was eighty-eight years old, suffered from osteoporosis, cataracts, was very frail and was housebound. While he did have to attend to work on the farm, the nature of his farming enterprise was such that he was never far away from the house and did not have to spend any significant amount of time away from his mother.

The information that I had received from the man seemed to be at variance with the details contained in the SWI’s report so I asked the Department to look at the application again. The Department referred the matter back for a further report to be compiled by an SWI, which, in turn, was sent to the Appeals Officer (AO) in the SWAO. Following receipt of the details the AO decided to re-open the appeal by way of an oral hearing. In examining the matter the AO, having regard to the new facts and fresh evidence, determined that the man was entitled to receive CA. He also backdated the award to the date of application in November 2002 and the man subsequently received arrears amounting to €5,225.

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