Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
527. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the delays in the processing of domiciliary care allowance applications; the average processing time for applications for the allowance from November 2021 to date; the measures her Department has put in place to reduce delays; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11591/22]
View answerDomiciliary Care allowance (DCA) is a payment to parents and guardians of children with a severe disability requiring substantial extra care and attention where that care is provided in their own home. Payment is currently being made in respect of over 50,000 children.
All applications for DCA are carefully assessed by a medical assessor before a decision is made by a deciding officer. The completeness of the information provided with the application will determine how quickly a decision can be made. In this regard applicants are encouraged to ensure they provide all necessary information with their initial application.
The processing target is to have 90% of applications decided within 10 weeks of receipt.
The average processing time for 2021 was 9.7 weeks. Processing times from November 2021 to date have ranged between 12 and 14 weeks.
The number of applications for Domiciliary Care Allowance exceeded 9,000 for the first time in 2021; this represented a 23% increase from the 2020 number of applications.
There were a disproportionate number of applications in the second half of 2021 due to covid related delays in getting a formal diagnosis or specialist reports not being available.
Additional staff have recently been assigned to DCA section to reflect the increased volumes of applications being received at present. These staff are currently undergoing training; when this is completed it is anticipated they will have a positive impact on processing times.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
