Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps she will take to ensure that appropriate regard is given by deciding officers to the medical evidence submitted by applicants for domiciliary care allowance in response to the recent High Court ruling against her Department which was highly critical of the current assessment policy; the steps that will be taken including the timeframe; and if she will confirm whether the relevant policy changes will be made in advance of the intended recommencement of eligibility reviews. [17795/14]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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On the same matter, what specific steps will the Minister take to address the very serious shortcomings the High Court judge found in the case of a mother who challenged the refusal of her domiciliary care allowance, DCA? The judge referred to the disdain shown for her application. He also called into question the operating procedure of the deciding officers which he said was inappropriately fettered.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Domiciliary care allowance, DCA, is currently paid to over 25,000 clients, parents and guardians, in respect of over 27,000 children at a cost in excess of €140 million a year, when the cost of the respite care grant is included. In 2013, over 4,800 applications were received, with 3,227 claims awarded in the year, including those awarded on review and on appeal. The situation following the review has improved enormously, which people have acknowledged. As I already stated, the High Court ruling of 1 April, to which the Deputy refers, involved a challenge by a mother to the process involved in determining eligibility on her claim for DCA. As the Department is still considering the detailed judgment, I am not in a position to comment further on what actions may be required. However, I can confirm that the DCA eligibility review programme will not recommence until the implications of the judgment are clarified.

The eligibility review process has been comprehensively redesigned as part of the scheme review undertaken in 2012 and while it has not yet recommenced, a lot of work has been undertaken to prepare for a recommencement of eligibility reviews. The scheme review was overseen by a working group comprising representatives of the Department, other relevant Departments and representatives of parents and guardians. It was chaired by the former Secretary General of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Ms Sylda Langford. On publication of the review report in April 2013, an implementation group was formed, involving representatives of parents and guardians to work on implementing the administrative recommendations. We have been working closely with representative groups, including parents and guardians.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

When the review programme recommences, parents and guardians will be given three months' advance notice of their child’s review to enable them prepare documentation. When this time elapses, they will get a form to complete and have another two months to complete and return it to the Department. The newly introduced forms facilitate the provision of additional medical information, which will be supplied by the specialist attending the child and this will ensure that the appropriate information is available to assist in the decision-making process.

This, combined with the new information guidelines and claim process, as outlined in my earlier answer will ensure that the claim and review process will be fully transparent to parents and guardians and that better outcomes are achieved for the children concerned.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I accept some of the Minister's answer in respect of being hampered because the Department has not had time to fully assess this. Given that a working group has examined this issue, the Department must already have some of the answers. Does the Minister think that, as part of the process, she would produce guidelines and training sessions for the deciding officers covering the relative weight to be attached to medical evidence in the future? When the processes are reformed, will the Minister ask the Department to consider the cases that were refused in the past and encourage them to make fresh claims so that their medical evidence can be examined? Can the Minister confirm that the review of domiciliary care cases in payment, which have been suspended, will recommence next month? Some of the recommendations have been implemented. The form has been changed but there are other changes that should have been implemented, even in that case.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I confirm the DCA eligibility review programme will not recommence until the implications of the judgment are clarified. The review is required under social welfare law by the Comptroller and Auditor General and by the Committee of Public Accounts. We must carry out regular reviews of all our schemes and everything in the Department. That is the context for the review.

The review programme will not commence until we have clarified the understanding of the implications of the judgment. The difference, which we have worked on with parents and guardians, is that when the review programme recommences they will get three months advance notice of their child's review to enable them to prepare documentation or an opinion, or whatever is required for the review. When this time elapses, they will get a form to complete and will have another two months in which to complete and return it to the Department. This is being done to facilitate the provision of additional medical information which will, I assume, be supplied by the specialist who attends the child. This will ensure that, as far as possible, the appropriate information is available to assist in the decision-making process, as the Deputy asked.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the changes in the form but, while it might not be in the Minister's gift, there is a waiting list for each and every specialist, unless the client has the money to purchase the services of a private specialist to fill in the forms. Most of the families applying for this do not have the money. That is why they want DCA, to have access to some of the specialists. What steps can be taken to help where the forms and a new system specify two months but in some cases parents wait six months or more to see a specialist consultant? In some parts of Dublin they must wait two years to see a speech and language therapist.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Comptroller and Auditor General has determined that social welfare payments are subject to review. The parents will be given three months' notice of the child's review to enable them to get the documentation together and apply for an appointment. When this time has elapsed, they will receive the forms from the Department and will have two months to complete them before getting an appointment. If they cannot get an appointment, they should tell us that and the review will be rescheduled. I give the Deputy an undertaking on that. He probably does not have any specific cases in mind because we suspended the review-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is a new form.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----pending the redesign of the system. I do appreciate any advice from any of the Deputies on how they feel the system can be improved. I am very anxious to ensure that parents with children who have special needs in the context of the domiciliary care allowance access any allowance to which they are entitled. That is very important.