Written answers
Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Social Welfare Eligibility
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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1406.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is aware of the substantial discrepancies that exist between initial applications for domiciliary care and the level of success of appeals with regard to same; and her intentions in regard to address this. [33591/24]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly allowance 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, where the level of the child's disability is such that the child is likely to require that level of care and attention for at least 12 consecutive months. This level of care and attention must be required to enable the child deal with the activities of daily living.
Eligibility for DCA is not based entirely on the child's disability or diagnosis, but primarily and essentially on the impact of the child's disability, in terms of the associated level of additional care and attention required by the relevant child compared to a child of a similar age, who does not have such a disability/diagnosis. The decision and assessment 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 care needs.
In relation to the DCA decision and assessment process, all applications for DCA are referred for the opinion of a departmental Medical Assessor (MA). The MA considers the severity of the child's condition, the expected duration, the child's associated care needs and provides their professional opinion in relation to the child's eligibility for DCA. This assessment is based on the information provided by the applicant in the completed application form, the details from the applicant's GP/specialist entered on the form, and any supporting documentary evidence provided by the applicant in the application process, such as a medical professional/specialist report(s) or diagnostic assessment report(s).
In some cases, more than one decision may be made on an application, where an applicant subsequently provides further information/documentary evidence for consideration and/or seeks a review of a decision. In other words, an application can be disallowed initially and then subsequently allowed on review(s) by the Department, following receipt of further new or additional information/evidence that is relevant.
Between 2023 and the end of June 2024 Domiciliary Care Allowance Section received 19,137 applications. Within the same period 12,569 Domiciliary Care Allowance applications were allowed, and 6,223 were disallowed.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision-making functions.
As part of the appeals process, all DCA appeal cases are further reviewed and re-examined by the Department, including all information/evidence available at the time of the original decision, and any further decision(s) if applicable, including any additional information and/or documentary evidence provided in support of the appeal and, if warranted, a revised decision is made by a Deciding Officer in such appeal cases. If the original decision remains unchanged following the appeal-related review/re-examination by a Deciding Officer, the appeal case is submitted to the Social Welfare Appeals Office for determination by an Appeals Officer.
Between 2023 and the end of June 2024, 3,597 Domiciliary Care Allowance appeals were received, of which 1,218 were allowed.
Claimants are advised to provide as much detail as possible at application stage, including any additional information and/or documentary evidence that is relevant, medical or otherwise, to ensure that all information is available to the Department in the assessment and decision process. If any further evidence becomes available to the applicant, the option of a review by the Department is always open to the applicant.
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