Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
293. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if domiciliary care allowance will be approved immediately in the case of a child (details supplied) based on the medical reports and the diary information submitted. [50980/22]
View answerDomiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly payment in respect of a child aged under 16 with a severe disability who requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 consecutive months. Eligibility for DCA is determined primarily by reference to the level of ongoing care and attention required by the child rather than the child's disability.
An application for DCA was received in respect of the child concerned on 22 April 2022. A deciding officer disallowed the claim on 13 June 2022 as the child was not considered to satisfy the qualifying conditions for DCA.
The applicant requested a review and appeal of the Department's decision.
As part of the review and appeal process, the complete DCA application, including the new additional information that was provided by the applicant in support of their review and appeal request, was re-examined by a deciding officer.
Following a review dated 5 August 2022, a deciding officer having re-examined their complete application, including all medical reports, their 3-day daily diary and all other information and documentary evidence that was provided by the applicant in support of their application and subsequent appeal, while also considering the opinion of a departmental medical assessor, decided that a revision of the original decision of 13 June 2022 was not warranted.
The applicant was notified in writing of the review decision on 05 August 2022.
The applicant's DCA appeal (Ref No 22/12480) was subsequently referred to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) on 11 August 2022 for further consideration by an Appeals Officer. The applicant will be notified directly by the SWAO of the outcome of their appeal in due course.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
