Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The domiciliary care allowance scheme transferred to the Department of Social Protection in 2009 and is now paid to over 27,100 parents or guardians in respect of some 29,100 children at a cost of €110 million per annum. In addition, recipients of domiciliary care allowance get a further €38 million through the annual respite care grant. The number of children currently in payment is over 3,000 higher than when the Department took over responsibility for the administration of the scheme in 2009. The scheme has been the subject of two reports commissioned by me during 2012. These were the report on the review of the domiciliary care allowance scheme and the second report of the advisory group on tax and social welfare on the review of budget 2012 proposals regarding disability allowance and domiciliary care allowance. Both were published in April 2013 and are available for download on the Department’s website.

The recommendations contained in the review of the domiciliary care allowance scheme have been fully implemented in the period since April 2013. The recommendations included a revised application form, improved information provision with new information guidelines and advance notification to the customers of an upcoming review and an extended period, now 60 days, to return the review form with any supporting documentation parents may wish to have considered, and an additional medical specialist form for use with applications involving children with pervasive developmental disorders.

The changes made also include improved feedback to customers on decisions. The implementation group continues to meet to monitor the impact of these changes and ensure they have a positive outcome for parents and guardians.

We have discussed this before but, from talking to parents and guardians, I believe the changes have certainly improved the situation. The critical issue is to provide the required information on the care needs of children when submitting a claim as this leads to improved outcomes and ensures the appropriate decision is made on domiciliary care allowance claims at the earliest opportunity.

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