Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 355: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if there have been any changes to the granting of the domiciliary care allowance to parents of children with autism; if there is a review of extant cases; the number, if any, that have lost their domiciliary care allowance on this basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5116/12]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 356: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if there has been a review of all persons in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance; if there have been any changes to the criteria on which this is granted; and if so, the number of persons that have lost the payment. [5117/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 355 and 356 together.

There has been no change in the qualifying criteria for Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA). In general, the allowance can be payable in respect of children under 16 years of age who have a disability so severe that it requires the child needing care and attention and/or supervision substantially in excess of another child of the same age. This care and attention must be given by another person, effectively full-time, so that the child can deal with the activities of daily living. The child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 months.

Eligibility for the DCA is not based primarily on the medical or psychological condition, but on the resulting lack of function of body or mind necessitating the degree of extra care and attention required. Each application is assessed on an individual basis taking account of the evidence submitted. In addition, the person claiming the Allowance for the child must be providing for the care of the child and must be considered habitually resident in the State.

DCA cases are routinely reviewed to ensure that the conditions for receipt of the payment continue to be met. Cases are reviewed based on either:

1) A scheduled review based on the recommendation of the medical assessor when the claim is initially processed; or

2) On the basis of information received about a change of circumstances which potentially affects the continued entitlement of a case already in payment.

Scheduled reviews, on the recommendation of the medical assessor, are based on the prognosis of the child's disability and how their condition may improve over time.

The review interval will vary from 12 months in cases where the child's disability is likely to improve significantly in the short-term, to a 5 or 10 years review date if the child's condition is likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. In circumstances where a child has a lifelong disability that is unlikely to improve by any significant degree, a "do not review again" status may be used.

Customers who are reviewed are asked to provide relevant up-to-date medical evidence and details of the extra care needs of their child. This information is assessed by a medical advisor and a decision is made based on their medical opinion.

The total number of scheduled reviews undertaken in 2010 and 2011, based on recommendations from medical advisors are set out in the table below. As the shortest review period is 12 months, the first review was not carried out until mid-2010, given that responsibility for the Allowance transferred to my Department from the HSE in April 2009.