Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The best way of setting the tone in terms of this issue is by way of example. I have recently come across a number of cases involving applications for domiciliary care allowance, in respect, primarily, of young children with intellectual disabilities. One case involves a young child of four and a half years who is in nappies, cannot talk and struggles to walk and has been clinical diagnosed by a qualified clinical psychologist-occupational therapist as having autism, among a number of other challenges.

An application form with the full clinical diagnosis is sent to the Department on behalf of the child who has been assessed by all of these highly-qualified and highly-trained medical professionals in the HSE. However, a medical assessor in the Department makes a decision, without ever seeing the child or consulting with the therapists or the child's parents, that the child does not qualify or meet the criteria for domiciliary care allowance.

I ask the Minister of State to convey my concerns about this matter. We are all aware of the lengthy delays in dealing with the applications. I question the qualifications of many of the assessors. It is important and only fair to the citizens of the country that applications are assessed by somebody appropriately qualified. I wonder whether sometimes assessments are not carried out at all by a medical practitioner of any description, but are decided upon by somebody in the Department without being forwarded for clinical assessment. It baffles me how somebody can make an adjudication on whether a child qualifies for domiciliary care allowance without actually seeing him or her. I will ask a supplementary question after I hear the Minister of State's reply.