Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, for taking this issue. I note that the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, has other commitments and is unavailable today and I thank her office for contacting me to inform me of that.

The Minister of State will be aware that the domiciliary care allowance is a monthly payment to the carer of a child with a disability so severe that the child requires care, attention and supervision substantially in excess of that needed by another child of the same age who does not have a disability. This care and attention must be provided to allow the child to get on with the activities of daily living. The allowance is a great help to parents and enables them to help their child and pay for some of the additional costs incurred due to the child's disability.

In response to the parliamentary question that I submitted last week, the Minister stated that for domiciliary care allowance to be payable, a child must be resident with the qualified person for at least five days per week and that there is no provision under the legislation to support the splitting of the domiciliary care allowance between two parents. I appreciate that, as with every scheme, there are objective guidelines for determining eligibility. Until two weeks ago, however, I was not aware of an issue that baffles me, quite honestly. To refuse this payment to the carers of a child with disabilities because he or she spends half of the week with one parent and the second half with the other parent is discriminatory. There are many such cases in this country because marriages break down for many reasons and it is not for us to ask why. Having a child with disabilities has massive financial implications for any household. There are cases where a judge rules that parents be given joint custody of a child or children. In those cases, one or other of the parents gets the domiciliary care allowance but it should be split between both parents.

Under the domiciliary allowance scheme, payment is not payable if the child is resident full time in an institution. However, if the child comes home for not less than two days and for more than four days in any one week, a half-rate payment can be made to the qualified person. Given that, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility to split the allowance between two parents in cases of separation, which would be of major help to both.

I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate Fianna Fáil's call for medical cards to be provided for all children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance. More than 33,000 parents are in receipt of this allowance on behalf of their children but currently there are approximately 10,000 children whose parents are in receipt of the allowance who do not have a full medical card. Their parents are paying for medical care that is not covered by this scheme. Extending the medical card to these children would remove a significant financial burden on their parents, particularly those children with disabilities and serious conditions. It is imperative that we ensure that those experiencing financial hardship due to very serious illnesses receive a discretionary medical card and it is regrettable that this has not happened to date.

See this speech in context