Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
441. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the changes introduced to domiciliary care allowance since 27 June 2020; and if she will detail the number of recipients, by county, benefitting from these changes, in tabular form. [31121/23]
View answerDomiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, substantially in excess of 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 for at least 12 months.
As part of Budget 2022, the period of time in which DCA remains in payment, where a qualified child is admitted to hospital on a full-time basis, was increased from 13 weeks to 26 weeks in any 12 month period. This measure took effect from January 2022.
As DCA is a demand led scheme, the number of children in respect of whom DCA is already in payment, who are admitted to hospital for periods in excess of 13 weeks but under 26 weeks will vary from year to year. However, based on the numbers of such cases advised to DCA administration in recent years it is estimated that over 100 children and their families will benefit per year from this payment extension.
Additionally, as part of Budget 2023 measures, DCA will also be payable in respect of a child (who is otherwise eligible for DCA) that remains in hospital immediately after birth due to illness or disability. DCA will also be payable in such cases, for up to 26 weeks in such circumstances. This provision has applied from January 2023, in respect of children where, immediately after birth of the relevant child, they remains in hospital or are transferred to another hospital.
Prior to January 2023, DCA was payable only in respect of children who were being cared for in the home or where in existing cases, DCA was already in payment before the qualified child was subsequently admitted to hospital. It is estimated that approximately 100 DCA families per year could benefit from the this measure.
Furthermore, as part of Budget 2023 measures, the DCA payment rate was increased by €20.50 to €330.00 per month with effect from January 2023. This rate increase will benefit over 55,000 children and their families.
As Information relating to the scheme is not collated on a county basis, the above figures are not available by county. However, for information, the following table sets out the number of DCA claims in payment, including the number of qualified children for year(s) ending 2020 to date.
|
Year ending |
Number of Recipients |
Number of Qualified Children |
|
2020 |
44,279 |
48,980 |
|
2021 |
46,211 |
51,373 |
|
2022 |
50,126 |
56,044 |
|
2023 to May 2023 |
51,662 |
57,825 |
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
