Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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474. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of domiciliary care allowance applications received by her Department in 2022 and to date in 2023; and the number of these applications that were refused during this period in tabular form. [8358/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable to a parent / guardian in respect of a child who has a severe disability or condition and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, substantially over and above the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 months.

The following table sets out the number of DCA applications that were received by the Department in 2022 and to date in 2023, including the number of these applications that were refused during this period.

In many cases, more than one decision may be made where a customer provides further information and / or seeks a review of a decision, i.e. a customer's application can be disallowed and then subsequently allowed on review. Applicants are advised to provide as much detail as possible at application stage, including any additional information or documentary evidence that is relevant, medical or otherwise, to ensure that all information is available to the department for the decision and assessment process.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.