Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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371. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to designate sodium valproate syndrome as a severe disability to allow children impacted get access to domiciliary care allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41172/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Social Protection operates the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA), a monthly payment for a child, aged under 16 with a severe disability who requires ongoing (continual or continuous) care and attention, substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age.  While the Department does not provide any specific supports to sub-groups of children based on diagnoses, children in the category referred to by the Deputy might qualify for DCA depending on the extent of their additional care needs.

Any parent/carer who feels that a child may qualify for DCA should submit an application which will be considered by a Departmental Medical Assessor before a formal decision is made by a Deciding Officer.  

There is no list of diagnoses which automatically entitle or exclude an applicant from receiving the payment and each application is decided based on its own merits, taking account of the additional care needs of the child involved.  

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.