Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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126. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to indicate whether consideration might be given to an easier system of transfer to disability allowance or other form of payment to those applicants who heretofore already qualified for domiciliary care allowance and who have no contributions to facilitate an ongoing payment on reaching the end of their DCA entitlement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54108/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly allowance payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, that is substantially over and above the level of care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care for at least 12 months.

Eligibility for Domiciliary Care Allowance is not based entirely on the disability or diagnosis, but rather on the impact of the disability in terms of the level of care and attention required by the child, as provided for in the governing legislation. Domiciliary Care Allowance ceases to be payable when a child turns 16.

An application for Disability Allowance may be made by the child at 16 years of age. Disability Allowance is a means tested payment for people who are aged between 16 and 66 with a specified disability that may be expected to continue for at least a year.

Each year approximately half of the 16 year old children for whom Domiciliary Care Allowance was paid in respect of have successful applications for Disability Allowance.

As the basis for these two payments, care and disability, and the recipient of the payment are different it is not possible to have a seamless transition between the two payments.

I am committed to restructuring long-term disability payments and to simplify the social welfare system to make it work better for people with disabilities. On 20 September, I published a Green Paper on Disability Reform and launched the associated public consultation.

The aim of the Green Paper is two-fold. Firstly, it aims to support a higher level of employment for people with disabilities, which will improve their outcomes; and secondly, to better insulate disabled people who cannot work from poverty and deprivation.

One of the proposals in the Green Paper is to increase the age limit for Domiciliary Care Allowance from 16 to 18. This proposed change is in response to calls from parents as well as recommendations from reports going back as far as the Commission on Social Welfare in 1986.

I would like to emphasise that the Green Paper is not a final design. It is only a starting point for a structured discussion on what the future of long-term disability payments could look like. It offers one possible approach on how to target limited resources - its proposals are intended to invite discussion, debate and suggestions.

I encourage all those with an interest to express their views in our public consultation by making a submission. We would like to hear what people like and don't like about the proposals and suggestions on how they could be improved or replaced with alternatives. I have extended the consultation period until 15 March 2024.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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 aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and where the level of that disability is such that the child is likely to require this level of care for at least 12 consecutive months. This level of care and attention must be required to allow the child deal with the activities of daily living.

While an assessment or diagnosis of a child's specific disability may assist my Department's Deciding Officers and Medical Assessors to make an appropriate decision on entitlement and at the earliest date possible, eligibility for DCA is not based entirely on the type of disability or diagnosis, but rather on the impact of the disability, in terms of the associated level of care and attention required by the child compared to a child of the same age. The decision process that applies in the consideration of whether a child meets the conditions for receipt of DCA includes the examination of all relevant factors identified as impacting on the child's additional care needs.

Applications for DCA are decided by a Deciding Officer on a case by case basis in respect of the relevant child. The Deciding Officer has regard to the professional opinion of a Departmental Medical Assessor in the decision process.

In addition to the personal details relating to the child's care needs as provided by the applicant on the completed application form (Dom Care 1), including the signed details from the applicant's GP/Specialist or other medical professional on this form, the applicant may provide any additional information or documentary evidence that is relevant to their application such as a medical professional report(s) if available, but there is no specific requirement to provide this information.

A parent / guardian should apply for DCA once they consider that their child may meet the qualifying criteria for the allowance. It is also open to an applicant to subsequently request a review(s) of any decision and this right is not time-limited. If requesting a review(s) of a Deciding Officer's decision, an applicant may forward any further new or additional information or documentary evidence, such as a diagnostic assessment report that was not previously available with the initial DCA application, for further consideration.

In cases where an application is successful, DCA is awarded with effect from the month following receipt of the application.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.