Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 February 2014
413. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a table showing the number of domiciliary care allowance applications granted and refused; and the average length of time it took to process those applications each month for the past two years. [9543/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraDomiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly payment for children, aged under 16 years, with a severe disability requiring ongoing care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of that age. Table 1 refers to the outcome of applications processed over the past 2 years. Many applications are allowed following a review of the original decision, when the customer supplies additional information on the care needs of the child. Administrative improvements, as recommended in the DCA scheme review are due to come into operation shortly and it is anticipated that these will improve the quality of information received at the initial claim stage and lead to better outcomes in the first instance.
Table 2 refers to the average processing time, in weeks, from receipt to award, each month for the past 2 years.
Table 1. Domiciliary Care Allowance applications – 2012 and 2013
|
- |
Applications received |
Applications processed in year |
Applications allowed* |
Applications disallowed |
|
2012 |
4339 |
4,680 |
2,204 (47%) |
2,476 |
|
2013 |
4829 |
4,404 |
2,444 (55%) |
1,960 |
*including following a review of decision request from customer
Table 2. Average time receipt to award each month – January 2012 to 2014
|
- |
Average time to award in weeks |
|
January 2012 |
8 |
|
February 2012 |
5 |
|
March 2012 |
5 |
|
April 2012 |
6 |
|
May 2012 |
7 |
|
June 2012 |
7 |
|
July 2012 |
7 |
|
August 2012 |
9 |
|
September 2012 |
6 |
|
October 2012 |
4 |
|
November 2012 |
4 |
|
December 2012 |
5 |
|
January 2013 |
9 |
|
February 2013 |
9 |
|
March 2013 |
7 |
|
April 2013 |
8 |
|
May 2013 |
7 |
|
June 2013 |
8 |
|
July 2013 |
8 |
|
August 2013 |
8 |
|
September 2013 |
5 |
|
October 2013 |
4 |
|
November 2013 |
5 |
|
December 2013 |
6 |
|
January 2014 |
9 |
