Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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769. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider allowing parents with children the right to claim domiciliary care allowance while living outside the State for the purpose of availing of specialist care for their children in that particular country, that is not currently available in Ireland; and if she will consider a mechanism where a special application could be made whereby the designated care and treatment programme for the child in the other state was sanctioned by an approved Government agency in Ireland before the parents could then apply for the domiciliary care allowance while living and caring for them abroad. [12861/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government acknowledges the valuable role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.

The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Spending on these payments is expected to amount to over €1.7 billion this year.

Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly allowance payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability that requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the level of 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 and attention for a least 12 consecutive months. This level of care and attention must be required to allow the child deal with the activities of daily living.

Eligibility for Domiciliary Care Allowance is not based entirely on the child's disability or diagnosis but primarily on the impact of the disability in terms of the associated level of care and attention required by the relevant child compared to a child of the same age without their disability.

At the end of February, some 54,462 customers were in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance in respect of 61,119 children. Expenditure in 2024 is estimated at over €290 million.

To qualify for Domiciliary Care Allowance, the child must live at home with the person claiming the allowance for five or more days per week. If the child is in residential care but is at home for two days or more per week, a half rate allowance is payable. These criteria are set out in the legislative provisions for the scheme.

Parents or guardians in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance are eligible for an annual Carers Support Grant (€1,850) and, subject to satisfying a means test or having sufficient PRSI contributions, may also be eligible for Carer’s Allowance or Carer's Benefit.

While Domiciliary Care Allowance is not payable on an extended basis to or in respect of persons outside the State, a Carer may be absent from the state while on holiday for a maximum of 3 weeks each year and continue to receive payment.

In order to acknowledge and address the financial burden families of sick children face, the Government has made significant changes to the Domiciliary Care Allowance payment in recent years.

• As part of Budget 2022, the period during which Domiciliary Care Allowance can be paid for children in hospital was extended from 3 months to 6 months.
• As part of Budget 2023, Domiciliary Care Allowance has been made available for babies who remain in an acute hospital after birth for a period of 6 months.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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770. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the level of means testing her Department is caring out on a family carer (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12889/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care.

The conditions attached to the payment of CA are consistent with the overall conditions that apply to social assistance payments generally. This system of social assistance supports provides payments based on an income need with the means test playing the critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency - be that illness, disability, unemployment or caring.

The means test ensures that support is provided to those most in need and plays a critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of caring. Carer's Allowance does not purport to be a payment for care, but is, like other income supports, a payment made in recognition of an income contingency.

This Department recognises the important role that family carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to supporting them through a range of payments and services. Means tests in this Department are kept under regular review and a number of significant changes have been made in recent years.

The means test for CA has been significantly eased over the years and is now one of the most generous means tests in the Social Welfare system. The current income disregard is €350 per week for a single person and €750 per week for a couple. From June 2024, the weekly income disregard will increase from €350 to €450 for a single person, and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse / partner.

Once claims are in payment, the Department periodically reviews them to ensure that there is continued entitlement. The reviews are carried out by Deciding Officers and decisions are made in a fair and impartial manner and in accordance with the legislative provisions for the relevant scheme.

My Department was unable to identify the person concerned from the details of the question raised by the Deputy. However, if you have any further query specific to that person, my officials would be happy to assist.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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771. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will examine the income thresholds for the fuel allowance in the case of under 70s in light of recent increases for those aged over 70 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12957/24]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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772. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider those aged under 70 years with modest occupational pensions which they worked for, who are unable to access the fuel allowance; if she will examine this cohort in the context of the next Budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12958/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 771 and 772 together.

The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €382 million in 2024. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.

The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including a means test and the household composition criteria. The means test ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those who need them most.

In January 2023 the weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 was increased by €80 to €200 above the appropriate rate of State Pension (Contributory). This was a very significant increase in the allowable means and ensured that those who previously were just above the allowable means for fuel allowance purposes were able to qualify for the payment.

In January 2024, the allowable means for those aged over 70 was increased to €512 for a single person and €1,024 for a couple. This was to ensure that no one lost their entitlement to the Fuel Allowance payment due to the increase in weekly rates of Social Welfare payments.

For those aged under 70 the allowable means is linked to the rate of State Pension Contributory and the allowable means for this cohort was automatically increased when the weekly rate of State Pension Contributory payable increased.

Any further widening of the weekly income threshold for accessing the fuel allowance scheme can only be considered while taking account of the overall policy and budgetary situation.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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773. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she plans to continue increasing the weekly income threshold for the over 70s when accessing the fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12959/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €382 million in 2024. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.

The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including a means test and the household composition criteria. The means test ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those who need them most.

In January 2023 a new means threshold was introduced for people aged 70 years and over. The new means threshold was €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. This was a very significant increase in the means threshold and allowed many more households to qualify for the fuel allowance payment.

In addition, for people aged 70 or over, the amount of capital that is disregarded was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. Savings over €50,000 are assessed on a proportionate basis only.

In January 2024, the allowable means for those aged over 70 was increased to €512 for a single person and €1,024 for a couple. This was to ensure that no one lost their entitlement to the Fuel Allowance payment due to the increase in weekly rates of Social Welfare payments.

Any further widening of the weekly income threshold for accessing the fuel allowance scheme can only be considered while taking account of the overall policy and budgetary situation.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is payable in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the level of care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the level of that disability is such that the child is likely to require this level of care and attention 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, in areas such as mobility, personal care, feeding/diet, communication, speech/language, sleeping, behaviour, safety, sensory issues, including any other additional needs.

Eligibility for DCA is not based entirely on the child's disability/diagnosis, but primarily on the impact of the disability, in terms of the associated level of care and attention required by the relevant child compared to a child of the same age who does not have such a disability/diagnosis.

All applications for DCA are referred for the professional opinion of a departmental Medical Assessor (MA).

An application for DCA in respect of their child was received from the person concerned on 26 July 2023. As per decision dated 12 September 2023, a deciding officer decided to disallow this application. Based on the information and supporting documents provided by the person, the child was not considered to satisfy the criteria for DCA. In making that decision, the deciding officer had regard to the professional opinion of a departmental MA and a copy of that MA opinion was issued to the applicant for information, along with the decision notification of 12 September 2023.

The person concerned appealed the above decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO). As part of the appeals process, a deciding officer reviewed their application including all information / evidence available at the time of the above decision and the further additional new evidence provided by the applicant in support of their appeal and decided not to revise the decision of 12 September 2023.

The SWAO will notify the person concerned directly of the appeal outcome in due course.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.