Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
333. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the refusal of a domiciliary care allowance application by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50672/23]
View answerDomiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is payable to a parent/foster parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and where the level of that disability is such that the child is 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 deal with the activities of daily living, in areas such as mobility, personal care, feeding/diet, communication, speech/language, sleeping, behaviour, safety, sensory issues, including any other additional needs. However, eligibility for DCA is not based entirely on the disability/diagnosis but rather on the impact of the disability, in terms of the associated level of care and attention required by the child compared to a child of the same age without their disability/diagnosis.
All applications for DCA are referred to a departmental Medical Assessor (MA) for their professional opinion. The departmental MA, based on the information provided in the application process, including any supporting (medical) evidence if provided, considers the severity of the child's disability/diagnosis, the expected duration and the associated care needs and provides their professional opinion in relation to the child's eligibility for DCA. In making a decision on the application, the Deciding Officer has regard to the MA opinion in the decision process.
An application for DCA in respect of the child concerned was received by my Department on 28 September 2023.
A Deciding Officer disallowed the applicant's application as per decision letter dated 9 November 2023. Based on the information provided, the child concerned was not considered to satisfy the conditions for DCA. This determination also considered all supporting documentary (medical) evidence that was provided by the applicant in their application. The Deciding Officer had regard to the professional opinion of a departmental MA in the decision process and a copy of this opinion was issued to the applicant for information, along with the decision notification.
As advised in the decision notification of 9 November 2023, it is open to the person concerned to request a review(s) of the Deciding Officer's decision and this right is not time limited. If requesting a review of a Deciding Officer's decision, the person concerned may forward any further new or additional information or documentary evidence, such as a diagnostic assessment report(s), that was not previously available to the Deciding Officer, for consideration.
It is open to the person concerned to appeal the decision directly to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
