James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1077. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 465 of 4 March 2025, if he will consider commissioning research, external or otherwise, to examine and establish just how long parents of over 1,000 disabled children are waiting in each of the past five years to be awarded a domiciliary care allowance that they were initially refused, irrespective of the manner in which that initial decision is altered; the reason that the success rate of appeals, partial appeals, or revised decision, taken together is so high vis-à-vis the original decision based on the information supplied in a series of Parliamentary Questions to this Deputy; if he has concerns that parents of disabled children from disadvantaged backgrounds may face greater challenges in navigating both the criteria and layers of process involved in the awarding of this allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12704/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all of its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.

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

DCA applications, due to the nature of the scheme and the variety of possible cases, lends itself to a broad application form requiring questions across a variety of care requirements. The complexity of the scheme means that there is a balance that my department must use when considering what questions need to be asked and the level of detail required versus the impact that the application process can have on the applicant.

The Department is creating a new online application for DCA, which will be available on the digital platform, MyWelfare. To make the application process easier, each question on the application form was reviewed to ensure they are relevant and easy to understand. Some questions have been updated, explanatory notes added and web links have been included for more information.

A sample of current DCA recipients and national carers’ advocacy groups were consulted. Based on their feedback, several changes were made to improve the form, taking account of the legislation and the broad age range and care needs that DCA covers.

The application is progressing in development and my department will be continuing to monitor carers’ queries and feedback, as well as their engagement with the online application when it goes live, with the aim of supporting further enhancements.

The time taken to process appeals reflects the need to consider each decision in detail and, in many cases, to examine additional information submitted at appeal stage and, in some cases, to seek further information by way of correspondence or oral hearing. The Chief Appeals Officer continues to monitor processing times, and every effort is made to reduce the time taken to process an appeal. This must also be balanced with the competing demand to ensure that decisions are consistent and made in accordance with the provisions set out in primary legislation and regulations.

The Chief Appeals Officer has put in place measures to deal with the increase in appeals received during 2024. 20 additional staff were assigned and attended training during December 2024 and January 2025. They have now been appointed as Appeals Officers and are making decisions on appeals. In addition, new Appeals Regulations have been signed to come into effect from April this year which provide, among other things, for simpler processes and specified response times. These should further help to reduce processing times.

All DCA applicants are subject to the same criteria and processes and are processed on a case-by-case basis, based on all the information provided during the application process. Applicants 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 all information is available for consideration in the decision and assessment process to ensure that an accurate and timely decision can be made.

It is not intended to commission research as suggested by the Deputy at this time.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.