Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 January 2012
335 Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will expedite a decision regarding a claim for domiciliary care allowance and carer’s allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [4930/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraApplications for domiciliary care allowance were received from the person concerned in respect of two children on 13th May 2011. These applications were referred to one of the Department's Medical Assessors who found that the children were not medically eligible for the allowance. She was notified of the decision on 19th August 2011 and has since appealed the decisions.
Currently, one appeal is with the Social Welfare Appeals Office for their consideration and the second case has been reviewed by one of the Department's Medical Assessors. As the Medical Assessor has recommended that the original decision is upheld, this file will also now be sent to the Appeals Office for their consideration.
336 Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of domiciliary care allowance on a county basis; the number of recipients of domiciliary care whose claims have been reviewed; the number of cases where benefit has been withdrawn following the review; the reasons for withdrawing benefit in view of the fact that the recipients were successful in the first place and in some cases had received the benefit over a number of years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4935/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are currently 24,101 persons in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance in (DCA) in respect of 25,914 children. A breakdown of the persons in receipt of the allowance on a county basis is not available.
DCA cases are routinely reviewed to ensure that the conditions for receipt of the payment continue to be met. Cases are reviewed based on either:
A scheduled review based on the recommendation of the medical assessor when the claim is initially processed; or
On the basis of information received about a change of circumstances which potentially affects the continued entitlement of a case already in payment.
Scheduled reviews, on the recommendation of the medical assessor, are based on the prognosis of the child's disability and how their condition may improve over time.
The review interval will vary from 12 months in cases where the child's disability is likely to improve significantly in the short-term, to a 5 or 10 years review date if the child's condition is likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. In circumstances where a child has a lifelong disability that is unlikely to improve by any significant degree, a "do not review again" status may be used.
The total number of scheduled reviews undertaken in 2010 and 2011, based on recommendations from medical advisors are set out in the following table. As the shortest review interval is 12 months, the first review was not carried out until mid-2010, given that responsibility for the Allowance transferred to the Department in April 2009.
|
Year |
Reviews |
Still Eligible |
Not Eligible |
Pending |
|
2010 |
134 |
80 |
54 |
0 |
|
2011 |
403 |
164 |
187 |
52 |
Customers who are reviewed are asked to provide relevant up-to-date medical evidence and details of the extra care needs of their child. This information is assessed by a medical advisor and a decision is made based on their medical opinion.
The main reason that a customer is disallowed DCA following a review is that the child no longer satisfies the medical criteria for the allowance. Where payment is stopped as a result of a review, the customer is invited to submit any further information they may wish to have considered and that information will be further examined and/or they may appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals office.
