Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2017
412. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection the average processing time for domiciliary care allowance applications; the reason for these delays; her plans to address the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33218/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department is currently experiencing delays in the processing of Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) claims. We are extremely sorry for any worry or concern this may cause to parents/guardians of children with additional care needs. Processing times for DCA are currently not meeting the target of having 70% of applications processed within 15 weeks. At present it is taking up to 20 weeks on average to finalise an application. Applications are processed in date of receipt order. There are a number of factors that have contributed to the extended time required to process claims.
First, there is a significant increase in the volume of applications being received. The numbers applying for DCA have increased significantly since 2009, when the Department took over administration of the scheme from the HSE. The year on year increase in volumes over recent years has consistently been in the 15-20% range due to an increase in population and more awareness of the scheme. Over 1,000 claims were received in May, along with a further 700 in June; whereas the average would have been 400 per month a few years ago.
Second, following a High Court ruling in 2016, there is now a need for the Department’s medical assessors to provide the deciding officer with a more detailed opinion on the child’s eligibility for the scheme and for the deciding officer in turn to provide more detailed reasons for their decision when communicating this to the customer. These factors have resulted in the time taken to finalise applications increasing significantly and as a result the numbers that can be processed have reduced and the timescale to finalise each application has increased.
In response to the current situation, additional deciding officers have been assigned to the scheme in recent weeks, this extra processing capacity will allow for an improvement in processing times over the coming weeks and months. The position will continue to be monitored closely.
