Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2017
271. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applications for a domiciliary care allowance declined at first instance; the number appealed; the outcome of those appeals; and the average time for applications under the domiciliary care allowance from initial application to final decision. [47608/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2016, the last complete year for which total figures are available, the Domiciliary Care Allowance section received 7,434 applications of which 1,683 were disallowed. This represents 22.5% of the total received. There were 319 appeal submissions to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) in 2016, 162 appeals were allowed and 6 other cases were partially allowed.
The current processing time for Domiciliary Care Allowance is approximately 17 weeks. It is hoped to reduce this further over the coming weeks.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
