Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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457. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application for a domiciliary care allowance by a person (detail supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33558/17]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The Department is currently experiencing delays in the processing of Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) claims. We are extremely sorry for any worry or concern this may cause to parents/guardians of children with additional care needs. At present it is taking 20 weeks on average to finalise an application. Applications are processed in date of receipt order. There are a number of factors that have contributed to the extended time required to process claims;

First, there is a significant increase in the volume of applications being received. The numbers applying for DCA have increased significantly since 2009, when the Department took over administration of the scheme from the HSE. The year on year increase in volumes over recent years has consistently been in the 15-20% range due to an increase in population and more awareness of the scheme. Over 1,000 claims were received in May, along with a further 700 in June; whereas the average would have been 400 per month a few years ago.

Secondly, following a High Court ruling in 2016, there is now a need for the Department’s medical assessors to provide the deciding officer with a more detailed opinion on the child’s eligibility for the scheme and for the deciding officer in turn to provide more detailed reasons for their decision when communicating this to the customer. These factors have resulted in the time taken to finalise applications increasing significantly and as a result the numbers being processed have reduced and the timescale to finalise each application has increased

Corrective actions are being taken, with additional deciding officers assigned to work on the scheme. Once these deciding officers become fully operational, the increase in claim processing capacity should allow for an improvement in processing times.

An application for DCA in respect of this child was received in the Department on the 24th April 2017. The applications current being finalised were received in February 2017. This application will be considered by a Deciding Officer and the decision notified as soon as possible.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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458. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application for a domiciliary care allowance by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33561/17]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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An application for domiciliary care allowance was received from this lady on the 1st September 2016. The application was not allowed as it was considered that the child did not meet the eligibility criteria for the allowance. A letter issued on 8th December 2016 outlining the decision.

A request for a review of this decision was received on the 22nd February 2017 and additional information was supplied. The application and all supporting documentation was re-examined by a deciding officer who did not consider a revision of the original decision to be warranted. The child’s medical diagnosis is not disputed, neither is the fact that the child has additional care needs. However, in the view of the deciding officer, the evidence provided does not indicate that the level of additional support required is substantially in excess of that required by other children of the same age without this disability. The lady concerned was notified of the outcome of this review in a letter dated 15th June 2017.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.