Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1436. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the rewording of the domiciliary care allowance form, the carer's allowance and benefit form and the carer's support grant will be considered (details supplied). [15738/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) application form was revised following a review of the DCA scheme itself in 2013. The redesign of the form was intended to obtain all necessary and relevant information needed to allow a fully informed decision on the application to be made by a deciding officer. The application form seeks to capture the relevant facts as early as possible in the process and minimise the need to request further supporting evidence at a later date, thereby minimising the time to finalise a decision for the applicant. The version currently in use was finalised after examination of the application processes used for similar schemes in other countries. The process also involved representatives from a range of advocacy and parent representative groups who were part of the review group. There are no further plans to amend the DCA application form at this time.

The Carer's Allowance application form has been recently reviewed. The redesign involved consultation with carers and their representative organisations. The design of the form is intended to obtain all necessary and relevant information needed to allow a fully informed decision on the application to be made by a deciding officer. The form has been expanded to allow the carer to provide much greater detail of the care requirements of the person they are caring for. It has also been re-designed with the intention to capture as many relevant facts as early as possible in the process and minimise the need to request further supporting evidence at a later date, thereby reducing the time taken to finalise a decision for the applicant. The new form should be available shortly.

The Carer's Benefit form will be reviewed and will take the format of information gathered from the Carer's Allowance application review.

The Carer’s Support Grant is received automatically by recipients of the Carer’s Benefit, Carer’s Allowance and Domiciliary Care Allowance payments on the first Thursday of June each year and other “stand alone” cases require a separate application. Changes to other carers forms will inform any future changes in respect of “stand alone” applications for the Carer’s Support Grant.