Written Answers. - Health Care Allowances.
Michael Moynihan
Question:
190
Mr. M. Moynihan
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if he will give details of the mobility allowance, domiciliary care allowance and motorised transport grant, including qualifying criteria, calculation of means test and the amount payable in each case.
[8628/01]
The domiciliary care allowance, mobility allowance and motorised transport grant are administered by the health boards on my behalf. The domiciliary care allowance, DCA, is paid in respect of eligible children under 16 years of age who have such a severe physical or intellectual disability that they require care and supervision at home substantially greater than that which would normally be required by a child of the same age. The current maximum rate of DCA is £117.30 per month and is increasing to £129.40 per month from 1 April 2001. To be eligible to receive this allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: the disability must be present at the time of the application and be likely to continue to last for at least a year; the disability must be so severe that the child requires from another person constant care or supervision, that is, continual or continuous care or supervision substantially greater than that which would normally be required by a child of the same age and the constant care or supervision must be provided by the parents themselves or by arrangement by them with another person or persons.
Only the means of the child are taken into account in determining eligibility for an allowance; the means of the parents are not considered. "Means" in this context include payments of compensation, following a court action or otherwise, in respect of injuries or disabilities sustained. Where there is more than one eligible child in a family, a full DCA payment is made in respect of each child.
From 1 April 2001 the following amendments to the domiciliary care allowance scheme come into effect: the abolition of the domiciliary care allowance, DCA, requirement that the handicap must have been present for six months prior to the date of application. From 1 April 2001 children may become eligible for DCA from birth. Therefore, from that date payment of the allowance should be made from the date of application. The second amendment is the introduction of a pro rata DCA payment in respect of periods spent at home, for example, weekends and holidays, by eligible children who normally reside in special schools or institutions.
The mobility allowance is a monthly payment which provides financial support to severely disabled people who are unable to walk or use public transport and is intended to enable them to benefit from a change in surroundings, for example, by financing the occasional taxi journey. The current maximum rate of the allowance is £45.60 per month and is being increased up to a maximum of £90 per month from 1 April 2001. It had been envisaged that from that date persons who benefit from the disabled drivers and disabled passengers, tax concessions, scheme would be unable to also avail of mobility allowance. By definition, the beneficiaries of the tax-based scheme have access to transport, which is heavily subsidised by the State, and the object of the new arrangement is to target the increased mobility allowance at incapacitated people who do not enjoy these advantages.
In consultation with the Minister for Finance, I have given further consideration to this proposal in the light of concerns expressed and representations received about the impact of complete cessation of the mobility allowance on some affected individuals. It has now been decided that while the increased rate of £90 per month will, as intended, be given only to people who are not also enjoying the tax concessions, those benefiting from both schemes should retain the mobility allowance at the existing maximum rate of £45.60 per month. To be eligible to receive this allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: they must be over 16 years and under 66 years; living at home or maintained by a health board in any long-term institution; unable to walk, even with the use of artificial limbs or other suitable aids, or must be in such a condition of health that the exertion required to walk would be dangerous; inability to walk has to be likely to persist for at least one year; moving of the applicant must not have been forbidden for medical reasons; be in a condition to benefit from a change in surroundings.
It is a matter for the senior area medical officer in the relevant health board to decide whether the medical criteria are satisfied in each case. Applicants must undergo a means test to decide eligibility. In assessing means, any income in excess of the current disability allowance rate is regarded as means. For those people on disability allowance, invalidity pension or infectious diseases maintenance allowance, income earned up to a maximum of £75 per week of a therapeutic or rehabilitative nature can be disregarded for the purpose of assessing mobility allowance.
The motorised transport grant is a means tested health board payment. The purpose of this allowance is to provide assistance to disabled persons who may need a car to obtain/retain employment and/or to provide assistance to disabled persons who are living in very isolated circumstances and have serious transport problems. To be eligible to receive this allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: their disability must impede their use of public transport; they must hold a driving licence; they must be physically and mentally capable of driving; the motorised transport must be a necessity in order for the disabled person to obtain/retain employment or have transport requirement because of isolated circumstances.
Applications may also be considered in the cases of persons with severe disabilities who are incapable of managing the controls of a car or where on medical opinion it is inadvisable for them to drive and therefore they must be driven to and from work. Consideration might be given for the purpose of the scheme to award a grant for the purchase of a car in the name of the person with the disability subject to the understanding that he or she will be driven by another person, whose name will be notified to the health board, to and from his or her place of employment.
The rate of payment depends on the claimant's means. Assessment is carried out by the community welfare officer and is based on the income of the applicant and applicant's spouse, if any, together with any income derived from assets, investments, lettings, etc. This is reduced by the following outgoings: allowances for rent, mortgage interest repayments, ground rent or exceptional needs or expenses in excess of the prescribed amount; allowances as permissible under the income tax code. If an applicant and-or spouse has assets, apart from their basic income and the family home, that yield an interest payment that is more than or equal to the lowest consecutive motorised transport grant currently available, such an applicant would not be eligible for a motorised transport grant on means grounds.
A grant of up to 75% of the cost of motorised transport may be paid, subject to the maximum grant. Subject to this limitation, the amount in each case will be determined by reference to a scale of payments related to various income levels, the amount of which will be fixed by the chief executive officer of the health board and revised from time to time. When a grant has previously been paid towards the purchase of a new vehicle, a grant towards replacement of the car will not normally be payable until three years from the date that the previous grant had been paid. When a previous grant was for the purchase of a used car, regard shall be had to the age and value of the applicant's existing car and to the age and type of the car the applicant proposes to purchase. The maximum motorised transport grant is currently £3,171 and is being increased to £3,300 from 1 April 2001.
