I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 184 together.
A number of families and representative groups expressed concerns about the impact of the changes to the DA scheme announced in Budget 2009. Having reflected on these concerns the Government, on my recommendation, agreed that the existing arrangements, whereby DA is paid to 16 and 17 year olds, will continue pending completion of a full review of the DA scheme. The changes announced as part of the Social Welfare Budget were designed to address concerns raised by a number of bodies about the appropriateness of paying young people a social welfare payment in their own right at the age of 16.
The National Federation of Voluntary Bodies in particular had argued in a submission to the Department's review of the Disability Allowance Scheme that "at present the age for receipt of DA is 16 years. We deem this to be too young. This does not give an incentive for a child to pursue work/education options. Subsequently a child may fall into the dependency trap too early. Instead parents should receive the Domiciliary Care Allowance for the child until they are 18 years old."
The Government's motivation in making changes to the Disability Allowance was to address these concerns. This week I met with six different groups representing people with disabilities and disability service providers (namely the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies, Inclusion Ireland, Down Syndrome Ireland, People with Disabilities in Ireland, the National Disability Authority and Rehab). At these meetings, the underlying principle of the Budget measure, i.e. that it is inappropriate to pay a social welfare payment to a 16 year old in his or her own right, was not seriously contested. The key concern expressed by the groups related to the loss of expected income at short notice to families of young people with disabilities.
Following these meetings, I recommended to the Government that the Disability Allowance continue to be paid to 16 and 17 year olds pending a full review of the scheme. The review is considering a wide range of issues as identified by groups representing people with disabilities and their families, by service providers and will take account of a forthcoming report on disability and illness benefits by the OECD. It will also draw on new data published by the Central Statistics Office last week from the National Disability Survey 2006. In the circumstances, the question of a possible entitlement to the Domiciliary Care Allowance in respect of persons aged between 16 and 18 does not now arise.