Vol. 522 No. 2
208 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason the respite care grant is only available for one child in a family which is in receipt of domiciliary care allowance for more than one child; and the reason he waited seven months after the grant was announced before making information about this limitation publicly available. [18253/00]
In the 1999 budget the Minister for Finance announced that a respite care grant of £200 was being introduced for recipients of carer's allow ance as a contribution towards respite care. Payment of the grant issued in June 1999. In August 1999 carer's allowance was extended to recipients of domiciliary care allowance who met the necessary criteria. The decision to increase the respite care grant to £300 and extend it to certain beneficiaries of domiciliary care allowance was announced by the Minister for Finance in budget 2000 on 1 December 2000.
The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs is responsible for paying the respite care grant to recipients of domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance or recipients of carer's allowance only. The health boards are responsible for paying the respite care grant to those in receipt of domiciliary care allowance only. The health board respite care grant is aligned with the criteria used by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs which allow for one respite care grant per carer.
My officials wrote to health boards on 16 March 2000 explaining the nature of the payment. In this correspondence health boards were asked to include an explanatory note with the respite care grant payment in June 2000, so that recipients did not confuse the respite care grant payment with any other health board payment. I hope this information clarifies the position.
