103. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection why a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan has been waiting almost a month for contact from a social protection inspector so that an application under the carer's allowance scheme can be competed. [43532/15]

I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 4 September 2015.

The application was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) on 4 November 2015 to confirm the number of hours worked by the applicant and to determine if adequate care was provided for the care recipient while the person concerned was working.

Subsequently, the Department was notified of the death of the care recipient in this case.

This case will be expedited and, once the SWI has reported, a deciding officer will make a decision on the application as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

On behalf of myself and the Department, sincere sympathy is offered to the applicant and to the family of the care recipient on their recent bereavement.