Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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1342.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an application for domiciliary care allowance for the mother of a young child (details supplied) who has a range of long-term conditions, who has significant delays in motor skills and who is being assessed for epilepsy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32594/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance 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 where the level of the child's disability is such that the child is likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 consecutive months.

Eligibility for Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is not based entirely on the child's disability but essentially on the impact of the disability / diagnosis, in terms of the associated level of care and attention required by the relevant child, compared to the age appropriate level. For the purpose of DCA, it must be established in the decision and assessment process, that the level of care and attention required by the child meets the threshold outlined in legislation for eligibility for DCA, that is continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of that normally required by a child of a similar age, who does not have such a disability /diagnosis.

I can confirm that an application for DCA in respect of their child was received by my Department from the person concerned on 1 December 2023.

A Deciding Officer disallowed their application as per decision dated 24 January 2024. Based on the information provided, the child concerned was not considered to satisfy the conditions for DCA. This determination also considered the supporting documentary (medical) evidence that was provided by the applicant in their application. The Deciding Officer had regard to the professional opinion of a departmental Medical Assessor (MA) in the decision process and a copy of that medical opinion was issued to the applicant for information, along with the above original decision notification.

The person concerned requested a review of the above decision. Following a review of their application in respect of their child, including the new information / documentary evidence provided by the applicant in support of their review request, a Deciding Officer decided not to revise the above decision, as per review decision dated 23 February 2024 and the person concerned was notified of that further decision in writing.

The person concerned appealed the Department's decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) and their file was submitted to that office on 17 May 2024 for determination by an Appeals Officer. The SWAO will notify the applicant directly of the appeal outcome in due course.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1343.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of expanding the free travel scheme to include people in receipt of domiciliary care allowance and those on carer’s allowance. [32604/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2024 is €104 million.

Firstly, Carers Allowance is already a qualifying payment for the Free Travel Scheme and a person in receipt of Carers Allowance is entitled to a single free travel pass.

With regards to those in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance, providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the free travel scheme to this cohort is very difficult as the cost is determined by the usage of the extra passes provided and not by the number of newly qualified people. Therefore, my Department is not able to provide an accurate estimate cost of the measure outlined by the Deputy.

Any decision to extend the Free Travel scheme to those in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance would require additional funding for the free travel scheme and would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly payment to the carer of a child with a disability. The allowance may be used for the additional costs involved in caring for the child and this may include additional transport costs. In Budget 2023, the rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance payable was increased from €309.50 to €330 a month. In addition, all recipients of Domiciliary Care Allowance qualify for the Carer's Support Grant in June of each year. The current rate is €1,850 per year for each carer.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an essential need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers and include help towards recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.