Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on such an emotive and personal issue this evening. We in Sinn Féin warmly welcome the spirit of this motion but we have concerns regarding some of the proposals that are being put forward. We do not agree with the recommendation from the Technical Group that the domiciliary care allowance should be transferred from the Department of Social Protection back to the Department of Health; this in our view would not benefit these families in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance, in fact we would view this as a counter-productive measure.

Logic would have it that all income support should be placed under the one roof. It is evident that it is at the administration level that changes need to occur. This motion also proposes that all domiciliary care allowance should be made by child protection or disability social workers. This in our view is extremely impractical; due to financial cutbacks we have a severe shortage of both social workers and disability workers. If anything we should be attempting to lighten their load as they are currently severely overworked. What we need are better guidelines and training for deciding officers

According to recent figures from the Department of Social Protection, nearly two out of every three applications for domiciliary care allowance are refused. This stands as a huge 62% refusal rate, which represents a trebling of the refusal rate for children with intellectual disabilities and autism since 2009 when the administration of this scheme was taken over by the Department of Social Protection.

These decisions are coming at a time when families across Ireland are struggling to cope. There is a number of psychological, speech and language, occupational therapy and paediatrician reports outlining the need for extra care for these children and their families, yet these reports are continuously overruled.

Many of these parents cannot work outside of the home and this allowance is their only income in some instances. Like many of my colleagues I have had many parents through my clinics majorly concerned at the thought of losing their vital allowance. For example, just last montha mother of three young girls came to my clinic. Two were autistic. The mother proceeded to tell me that she only receives domiciliary care allowance for one but it is probably only a matter of time before she will get a review. This woman has just been refused domiciliary care allowance for her youngest daughter, yet she has same diagnosis as her sister. The family now awaits a review for the other daughter who is in receipt of domiciliary care allowance and is in great fear of losing it.

Figures from the Department of Social Protection show that domiciliary care allowance is paid to more than 24,000 parents or guardians in respect of 26,000 children. In 2011, 403 reviews were carried out, 187 families were found to be no longer eligible and 52 cases have yet to be finalised.

The combined number of people who appealed review and first time application decisions last year was 2,420, and while 1,259, or 52%, of these appeals were successful, 48% were not. In the past six months 213 domiciliary care allowance recipients have been found on review to be no longer eligible for the payment. This enormous hike in refusal rates illustrates the severe lack of understanding in the Department of Social Protection about these families who desperately need this allowance. This lack of understanding is also reflected in the flawed application process which places more pressure on families applying for a welfare payment, putting them through the stressful ordeal of appeals and oral hearings, not to mention the expense of this extended process on the State.

Parents are not given sufficient notice of the review to gather the supporting documentation from consultants and therapists which is necessary to re-establish eligibility successfully. My colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, has made several recommendations to the Department on areas of improvement, specifically that parents should be granted a period of six months to prepare for the review.

While I welcome the motion, I have concerns about some aspects of the proposals. That said, the huge rise in refusal figures is of great concern, as refusal has a dramatic effect on the daily lives of families throughout Ireland.

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