Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
348. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection why a person who is classified as deaf has been refused carer's allowance; the services available to the person who requires extra care and attention and who will find daily life difficult without the assistance of a carer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20476/16]
View answerCarer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require full-time care and attention.
Full-time care is defined in legislation as requiring from another person continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continual supervision in order to avoid being a danger to him or herself, and likely to require this level of care for at least 12 consecutive months.
Without the details necessary to identify the specific case, I am unable to provide details of the reason(s) that CA was disallowed.
It is open to those who are deaf and who are substantially restricted in undertaking work that would otherwise be suitable for a person of their age, experience and qualifications to apply for disability allowance, which is a weekly allowance paid to people with a disability.
Where the onset of deafness is as a result of an accident at work or a prescribed occupational disease, a person may have an entitlement to injury and/or disablement benefit. A prescribed occupational disease is one that has developed because of the type of work done. It also includes any condition resulting from the disease.
In order to qualify, the person must have worked in a prescribed occupation for at least 10 years and applied for this benefit within 5 years of leaving that employment.
It may be paid where the person has suffered a loss of physical or mental faculty as a result of occupational deafness. Where the person has suffered a 50% loss of faculty and as a result needs someone to attend to their personal needs for at least 6 months, they may have an entitlement to a constant attendance allowance.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
