Vol. 534 No. 3
178 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will instruct the South-Eastern Health Board to urgently review the application under the motorised transport grant scheme by a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [10651/01]
Assessment of entitlement to a motorised transport grant in any individual case is a matter for the relevant health board. Accordingly, I have referred the Deputy's question to the chief executive officer, South-Eastern Health Board with a request that he examine the query and issue a direct reply to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
179 Ms Fox asked the Minister for Health and Children the percentage of children in special schools in the South-Eastern Health Board area who are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10655/01]
180 Ms Fox asked the Minister for Health and Children the percentage of children in special schools in the Eastern Health Board area who are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10656/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 179 and 180 together.
Domiciliary care allowance, DCA, was introduced by way of Circular No. 24/73 dated 23 September 1973 and is administered by health boards on my behalf. DCA is paid in respect of eligible children under 16 years who are severely physically or mentally disabled and who require constant care and supervision at home substantially greater than that which would normally be required by a child of the same age. The current rate of payment is £129.40 per month, effective from 1 April 2001.
The Deputy will be aware that the following change to the DCA scheme was announced in the budget on 6 December 2000 and came into effect from 1 April 2001: The introduction of a pro-rata DCA payment in respect of periods spent at home, weekends and holidays, by eligible children who normally reside in special schools or institutions; prior to 1 April 2001, DCA was not available in respect of children who resided in special schools or institutions.
With regard to the Deputy's questions relating to the percentage of children in special schools in respect of whom DCA is paid, I have been advised that the health boards do not collate DCA statistics in this format. As DCA is paid in respect of the additional care and supervision given at home, the data collected by the health boards does not indicate what number of DCA recipients are attending special schools. However, I have included the following data relating to the number of DCA recipients on 31 December 2000, the most recent period for which information is available, for the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the South-Eastern Health Board: Eastern Regional Health Authority, 3,365; South-Eastern Health Board, 1,150.
