Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
304. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if the application for domiciliary care allowance can be reviewed in the case of a person (details supplied); if the case can be urgently reviewed or arrangements put in place for an oral hearing with a view to granting the application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51057/22]
View answerDomiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is payable to a parent / guardian in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and 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. This level of care and attention must be required to allow the child to deal with the activities of daily living. While a diagnosis of a specific disability may assist the Department's deciding officers and medical assessors to make an appropriate decision on entitlement, eligibility for DCA is not based on the type of disability but on the resulting medical and additional care needs. A diagnosis of autism alone or any other disability or condition does not necessarily indicate the level of care required by the child.
An application for DCA in respect of their child was received from the person concerned on 24 August 2022. A deciding officer disallowed the claim on 29 September 2022, as their child was not considered to satisfy the conditions for DCA. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision, the reason for it and of their right of review and / or appeal.
To date, the person concerned has not submitted any new or additional information or evidence for further consideration and there is no record of a request for an appeal of this decision. The person concerned may request a review of this decision and should forward any new or additional information or documentary evidence that was not previously available to the Department for consideration. A full review of the decision will be completed by a deciding officer on receipt of this information.
It is also open to the person concerned to appeal this decision directly to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) as advised in the Department's notification dated 29 September 2022. The Appeals Officer may make a decision based on the written appeal submission and evidence only, or the applicant may be invited to attend an oral hearing. Alternatively, the person concerned may request an oral hearing in the appeal process.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
