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 in excess of the 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, and 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 child compared to a child of the same age who does not have such a disability / diagnosis.

An application for DCA in respect of their child was received by my Department from the person concerned on 25 January 2024. A Deciding Officer disallowed their application as per decision dated 23 February 2024. Based on the information and supporting medical evidence that was provided by the person concerned in their application, the child was not considered to satisfy the conditions for DCA. The Deciding Officer had regard to the professional opinion of a departmental Medical Assessor in the decision process.

I confirm that a request for a review of the Deciding Officer's decision, including further additional information for consideration, was received on behalf of the applicant.

Following a review of their application in respect of the child concerned, including all information and documentary evidence available at the time of the original decision and the further additional information provided in support of their review request, a Deciding Officer decided not to revise the original decision, as per review decision dated 7 March 2024.

The person concerned was notified of the above review decision in writing on 7 March 2024.

As advised in the decision notification of 7 March 2024, it is open to the person concerned to request a further review(s) of the Deciding Officer's decision and / or appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.