I should state at the outset that eligibility for Carer’s Allowance is not based on the type of impairment or disease but on the level of the care requirement consequent on the impairment.
Carers’ Allowance is payable to those providing full-time care and attention to a care recipient where the recipient of care is aged 16 or over and so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention or aged under 16 and getting a Domiciliary Care Allowance.
The person receiving care is regarded as requiring full-time care and attention where he or she is so incapacitated as to require continuous supervision in order to avoid danger to him or herself or continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions, and he or she is so incapacitated as to be likely to require full-time care and attention for a period of at least 12 months
However, the Department, in consultation with carers’ representatives has reviewed aspects of its communications with parents when a child reaches 16 and no longer qualifies for Domiciliary Care Allowance. This necessitates a review of entitlement to Carers’ Allowance to ensure that the appropriate care conditionality is satisfied. There has been a long-standing process of communicating with parents, six months in advance of the child reaching 16, advising them of the requirement to review their entitlement to Carers’ Allowance and of the potential entitlement of the child to Disability Allowance. This gives time for the parents to collate and supply the information required for the purposes of establishing entitlement to Carer’s Allowance.
The notification to parents that issues in advance of the child reaching 16 is now being revised to advise them of the importance of providing the Department with full and comprehensive information on the current and ongoing care requirements of the child.
Also, it is important to note that where CA claims for former DCA recipients are being reviewed upon a child reaching 16, the claims remain in payment while the review is underway, even if the child has already reached 16.
