Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2017
57. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions being taken by her Department to tackle long waiting times for the processing of domiciliary care allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39583/17]
View answerThe Department is currently experiencing delays in the processing of Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) claims. We are extremely sorry for any worry or concern this may cause to parents/guardians of children with additional care needs. At present, it is taking 17 weeks on average to finalise an application. While this represents an improvement of some 3 weeks compared to the time taken in July and August, it is hoped that corrective actions in place will further reduce processing times over coming weeks. Applications are processed in date of receipt order allowing for the complexity of individual cases. A number of factors have contributed to the extended timeframe required to process claims at this time.
First, there is a significant increase in the volume of applications being received. The numbers applying for DCA have increased significantly since 2009, when the Department took over administration of the scheme from the HSE. The year on year increase in volumes over recent years has consistently been in the 15 to 20% range, due to an increase in population and more awareness of the scheme. Currently over 625 applications are received each month, whereas the average would have been 400 per month a few years ago.
Secondly, following a High Court ruling in 2016, there is now a need for the Department’s medical assessors to provide the deciding officer with a more detailed opinion on the child’s eligibility for the scheme and for the deciding officer in turn to provide more detailed reasons for their decision when communicating this to the customer. These factors have resulted in the time taken to finalise applications increasing significantly. As a result the numbers being processed have reduced and the timescale to finalise each application has increased.
Corrective actions are being taken, with significant new additional staff resources allocated to decision making since July. As these staff are now fully up to speed on decision making, it is anticipated that the improvement in the processing time currently being experienced will continue and it is hoped to reduce delays further over the coming weeks and months.
Applications once decided are back dated to the date of application and any arrears due are paid as soon as possible.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
