Parents wait a year for child benefit appeals to be processed

PARENTS whose initial application for children’s allowance was refused are waiting almost a year for their appeal to be processed.

The unacceptable waiting time for child benefit, worth about €150 per month per child, was revealed in a response to a query from Labour TD Seán Sherlock to Social Protection Minister Éamon Ó Cuív.

Figures from the Department of Social Protection reveal since the start of the year, the vast majority of appeals have been rejected — 680 appeals have been processed, of which just 127 have been allowed — less than 20% of the total.