Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to that because co-operation exists on both sides of the House on the reviews of the domiciliary care allowance and there is a number of groups, including a stakeholder group, in the Department addressing this issue. The stakeholder group includes parents, obviously, and they help with the design of the forms, which is important. Parents in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance give care above and beyond what might be imagined and they often face very challenging situations. As the Deputy is aware, a significant number of parents in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance go on to receive the carer's allowance so I am happy to examine this matter.

The best way to address this issue might be for the committee to hold a hearing with the relevant officials. We have invested significantly in information technology, IT, and communications in this area and I recognise that some of the time periods involving specialists can be lengthy. I have no difficulty in extending the period as outlined by the Deputy but two months, plus the notification period, amounts to a lengthy period. The committee might meet the officials to discuss this but, in principle, there is no difficulty.

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