On 12 June the Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly released a report criticising the failure of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Social Protection to provide a basic income for a vulnerable family seeking asylum.
The case concerned an application by Ms Kileni (not her real name) for Supplementary Welfare Allowance. Ms Kileni arrived in Ireland in 2007 with her two daughters and sought asylum. They were placed in direct provision – basic accommodation and food provided by the Department of Justice for asylum seekers – and granted a weekly payment of €19.10 for herself and €9.60 for each of her daughters. In 2008 the family left direct provision due to the declining mental health of one of Ms Kileni’s daughters. Her daughter was subsequently hospitalised following a suicide attempt. After discharge from hospital she was voluntarily placed in foster care.
Ms Kileni then applied for Supplementary Welfare Allowance and was refused. She appealed unsuccessfully to the HSE. She then appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. She was granted an oral hearing in June 2009. In December 2009 her appeal was allowed based on the exceptional social and medical circumstances in her case. However, the Superintendent Community Welfare Officer queried her case and decided to pay her only the rate she would have received had she been living in direct provision (€19.10). Following intervention by the Ombudsman’s Office, the HSE revised this decision and in January 2011 the appeal was implemented. Ms Kileni was awarded arrears of €11,882. However, shortly after the payment was made the HSE again reviewed her case and found her to be ineligible for Supplementary Welfare Allowance. Pending appeal Ms Kileni’s payments were again reduced to that normally granted to asylum seekers in direct provision. Months later, after a separate appeal, she was granted the full Supplementary Welfare Allowance payment.
The Ombudsman’s investigation noted the considerable hardship caused to Ms Kileni by the failure to properly implement the social welfare appeal decision. Consequences included the “extreme impoverishment” of Ms Kileni and her eldest daughter (who was studying for the Leaving Certificate at the time). The family’s lack of income also meant it was not possible for Ms Kileni’s second daughter, who was in foster care, to be reunited with the family.
The Ombudsman’s report found that the failure to properly implement the appeal decision, “reflects actions which were taken without proper authority, were improperly discriminatory as well as being otherwise contrary to fair or sound administration.”
Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) represented Ms Kileni in the late stages of the case. FLAC welcomed the robust criticism in the Ombudsman’s report. FLAC Senior Solicitor Michael Farrell said that “the Ombudsman’s investigation emphasises the need to place people at the heart of a fair and efficient social welfare system, in particular those who are at real risk of destitution because of poor administrative decisions and lengthy delays on the part of the Department of Social Protection.”
Click here to view an article on social welfare appeals in the Irish Review of Community Economic Development Law and Policy.
Click here to view the Ombudsman’s report.
Click here to view an article in the Irish Times.
Click here to view a press release from FLAC by Saoirse Brady, Policy and Advocacy Officer, FLAC.