Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

This scheme came to the Department from HSE and the Department of Health in 2009 and its payment and structures need to be reviewed. As stated about carers, it is also subject to modernisation in terms of processing. Review dates are most often set by the medical reviewer suggesting a child may be looked at again after a particular interval. I am happy to speak to the chief medical officer in the Department. Again there are variations whereby some children have a condition which is likely to be life-long and in other cases - it is hoped - children make a full recovery or make such progress that a domiciliary care allowance may no longer be appropriate. As we improve the processing of claims we can then turn our attention to this area.

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