Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, want to say that it has been a tough year for Tracy McGinnis. We think about her and we extend our thoughts and prayers to her as she faces Christmas without her son, Brendan. It cannot be easy for her. I was in touch with her recently about a separate issue.

I appreciate where Deputy Kerrane is coming from on this matter. She is coming from a good place and I recognise that, but there are two main issues here. Domiciliary care allowance is paid for three months after a child passes away, but it is different. First, domiciliary care allowance is a monthly rather than a weekly payment. Second, domiciliary care allowance is paid to the family, not the individual. Disability allowance is different in that it is a weekly payment and it is paid to the person with the disability in their own right. It is important to say that if a person is providing care to a child with a disability, then carer's allowance will continued to be paid for 12 weeks after the child passes away.

This is one of the issues that we will look at as part of the reform of the long-term disability payments. As I outlined last night, I intend to publish a straw man proposal on those reforms for consultation shortly. That straw man proposal will look at everything, including linkages and the interplay between domiciliary care allowance and disability allowance. I have not forgotten about the matter. It will be looked at as part of those wider reforms of disability payments.

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