Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

It is very important that parents understand and that they are communicated with as early as possible about conditionality, reviews and so on. This will hopefully address the concerns of parents and guardians regarding the timeframe allowed and will provide them with additional time to gather supporting documentation or medical reports they may wish to submit in advance of the review date.

In addition to this, the Department will now write to claimants two to three months in advance of the formal review date and then give them 60 days in which to submit relevant additional information. That should provide for a much better system of communication and knowledge for the parents of the process. At present when domiciliary care allowance is being awarded, there is no indication given as to when the claim will be reviewed.

The Department took over the domiciliary care allowance from the HSE in 2009. Like many issues in the Department of Social Protection, there is a huge changeover taking place in the system.

From now on, the Department will include a line in the awarding letter that the claim will be reviewed in, say, two, three or five years time and that the Department will be in touch closer to that time regarding information that will be required.

I hope that parents and guardians can be assured that the Department is committed to ensuring that those children who meet the conditions for the scheme will continue to receive the payment.