Social Protection | The number of applications made for carer’s allowance in each of the past three years to date, the number granted, the number refused and the number granted following appeal

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications made for carer’s allowance in each of the past three years to date; the number granted; the number refused; the number granted following appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Carer’s Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that, as a result, they require that level of care.

In order to qualify, applicants must show that they are habitually resident in the State, that their means are less than the statutory limit, that they are providing full-time care and attention, and that the person being cared for requires that level of care.

The tables below shows the number of CA applications received, awarded and disallowed for the past three years.

Year	Received	Awarded	Disallowed
2021	19,648	14,804	9,134
2022	22,781	14,921	10,115
2023	22,633	17,333	10,875
2024 (to 31/05/2024)	9,511	6,871	4,233

Please note that the statistics in relation to awarded and disallowed cases include cases that may have been received in a preceding year.  

Where an applicant’s CA claim is initially disallowed, they have the option to request a review of this decision.  This allows the applicant to present additional documentation / evidence where this is available.  Considering the new evidence, it is possible that the initial decision could be overturned by a Deciding Officer (DO). This review process ensures that every applicant receives a fair evaluation of their circumstances, acknowledging that their circumstances or the circumstance of the care recipient may not have been fully captured at the initial application stage.

If an applicant is dissatisfied with the outcome of their review,  they have the option to refer the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO).

The table below shows the number of CA appeals allowed or partially allowed by the SWAO for the past three years.

Year	Appeals Allowed	Appeals Partly Allowed
2021	886	95
2022	804	67
2023	680	52
2024 (to 31/05/2024)	234	25

Appeals that had a favourable outcome for the appellant consist of appeals that were either allowed in full or in part by an Appeals Officer, or that were resolved by way of a revised decision in favour of the appellant by a DO.  

There are a number of reasons why a decision that was refused at first instance might be successful on appeal and it is not necessarily the case that the first decision was incorrect.  It is often the case that new evidence is provided with an appeal and that, as a result, the original decision may be revised by the DO.

Where the decision was not revised by the Department in light of the appeal contentions, further evidence is often provided by the appellant as the appeal process proceeds.