Vol. 443 No. 4
186 Eamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health whether he intends changing the regulations whereby a person in receipt of disabled person's maintenance allowance who is being cared for by a spouse who is in receipt of carer's allowance is not entitled to the full personal rate of disabled person's maintenance allowance.
Under section 69 of the Health Act 1970, health boards, in assessing eligibility for disabled person's maintenance allowance (DPMA), are obliged to have regard to the means of both the applicant and his/her spouse. However, the carer's allowance which is administered by the Department of Social Welfare, is disregarded by health boards when means testing for payment of DPMA.
If the Deputy has details of any particular case where the carer's allowance has been taken into account when means testing for payment of DPMA, I will have the matter investigated and a reply issued directly to the Deputy.
