Ms Bernie McNally:

We have engaged closely with the Department of Social Protection during the past nine months. Its Secretary General recently corresponded with us and accepted a number of the points that Ms O'Reilly made when she published the annual report earlier this year. The Department has commissioned a review of the domiciliary care allowance, which will pick up on some of the issues the Ombudsman mentioned at the launch of her annual report. We have sent the allowance's independent reviewer copies of our correspondence with the Department. We have received positive feedback from the Department and assurances that it is trying to improve the transparency and equity of its decision making in this regard.

We have also worked closely with the HSE, but we have not seen as much of a tangible outcome yet.