Peadar Tóibín
Question:985. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who were refused the domiciliary care allowance, in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [1802/24]
View answerWednesday, 17 January 2024
Questions (985)
Written answers
Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly allowance payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the level of 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.
The number of persons (applicants) who were refused the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) by my Department (at the initial decision stage) in each of the past 10 years are indicated in the following table. The DCA claim refusal percentage rate, in respect of the relevant year(s) is also included for information.
|
Year |
Number of DCA applicants refused |
Percentage of applications refused |
|
2014 |
2,062 |
40% |
|
2015 |
2,102 |
33% |
|
2016 |
1,683 |
25% |
|
2017 |
2,187 |
24% |
|
2018 |
2,225 |
26% |
|
2019 |
2,875 |
33% |
|
2020 |
2,639 |
34% |
|
2021 |
2,478 |
31% |
|
2022 |
3,948 |
33% |
|
2023 |
4,076 |
34% |
It should be noted that some of these applicants would have been subsequently awarded on review, in cases where further medical evidence and/or relevant information was received, or following appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
The number of DCA applications continues to increase. Applicants are advised to provide as much detail as possible at application stage, including supporting documentary evidence (medical or otherwise) to ensure all information is available for the decision and assessment process.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.