Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Domiciliary care allowance is paid to more than 24,000 parents and guardians in respect of 26,000 children at a cost of approximately €100 million in 2011, with the accompanying respite care grant costing a further €45 million. In addition, the Department makes an extensive range of payments to support families with children. In 2011, approximately €2 billion was paid out in respect of 1.36 million children on child benefit. In addition, qualified child increases were also paid to people on social welfare payments in respect of 495,000 children, with 369,000 at full rate and 126,000 at half rate.

Domiciliary care allowance is a monthly payment to the parent or guardian of a child with a disability so severe that the child requires care and attention and-or supervision substantially in excess of another child of the same age. This care and attention must be provided to allow the child to deal with the activities of daily living and the child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 months.

Domiciliary care allowance cases are reviewed to ensure 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. As with the carer's allowance, this is a medically based assessment.

Scheduled reviews, on the recommendation of one of the medical assessors, are based on the prognosis of the child's disability and how his or her condition may improve over time.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

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 five or ten year review date if the child's condition is likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. In circumstances where a child has a life-long disability that is unlikely to improve by any significant degree, a "do not review again" status may be used.

It is not accurate to say that parental or medical evidence is not sought or taken into account in the review process. Domiciliary care allowance reviews are initiated with the completion a review of medical criteria form by the parent, which also requires medical input from the child's doctor. The parent returns this form, together with any additional recent reports of medical or therapeutic services the child may be receiving. This information is then sent for review by one of the Department's medical assessors who will provide an opinion to the deciding officer on whether the child still meets the medical criteria for receipt of the payment.

The decision of the deciding officer is communicated to the customer in writing and they are given the option to appeal the decision to the social welfare appeals office within 21 days. The average processing time for an appeal dealt with on a summary basis is just under six months for appeals and just over a year for appeals where an oral hearing is requested.

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