Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
294. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if domiciliary care allowance and arrears will be paid to a person (details supplied); if payments will be backdated to the year of the first assessment when the child was three years of age and when they were first informed verbally by a Department official not to apply as they would not qualify; and if the case put forward them will be investigated. [50985/22]
View answerWhere an application for Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is awarded, payment is effective from the first of the month following receipt of the application. However, DCA applications may be backdated in cases where good cause for the delay in making the claim can be shown to the satisfaction of a deciding officer. This maximum permitted period is governed by social welfare legislation and cannot exceed 6 months.
The onus is on all applicants to apply for DCA when they consider that they and their child may meet the qualifying conditions for the allowance. Applications for DCA are decided by a deciding officer on a case-by-case basis, while also considering the opinion of a Departmental medical assessor.
An application for DCA in respect of their child was received from the person concerned on 2 June 2022. Their application was awarded following a review dated 29 September 2022 and backdated 6 months, effective from 1 January 2022 which is the maximum period allowable as provided for under social welfare legislation. Backdating of payment was allowed, as provided for under legislation, following consideration of the information provided by the person concerned relating to the good cause for not making an earlier application.
It is also open to the person concerned to request an appeal of the Department's decision directly to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office as advised in the decision notification dated 29 September 2022.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
