Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
657. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if an assessment of need will still be required for an application for domiciliary care allowance given the recent policy reform announcement by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. [72237/25]
View answer658. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if the long waiting period for an assessment of need is taken into account during an application for domiciliary care allowance; and if it has been brought to his attention that applications have been refused due to the lack of an assessment though a child is on the waiting list for an assessment. [72238/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 657 and 658 together.
Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable to a parent / guardian 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 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 to deal with 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 type of disability or diagnosis but primarily on the impact of the child's disability, in terms of the associated overall level of care and attention required by the child compared to a child of a similar age who does not have such a disability. The decision process that applies in the consideration of whether a child meets the conditions for DCA includes the examination of all relevant factors identified as impacting on the child's additional care needs.
When reviewing an application for Domiciliary Care Allowance, the claim is first referred to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their opinion. Medical Assessors are fully qualified and experienced practitioners who provide a second opinion to that of the person's own doctor for the guidance of the Department's Deciding Officers.
The assessment of the substantial extra and continual care needs of children with childhood development and behavioral disorders is more challenging compared to other childhood conditions given the wide spectrum of manifestation of conditions and bearing in mind the age attainment of developmental milestones. In all cases, determinations on eligibility for DCA are based on all of the medical and care needs information provided with the application and while specialist reports and Assessment of Needs (AON) reports can be helpful in making quality and efficient decisions, they are not mandatory.
Applications are assessed based on the information which has been provided by the applicant. In cases where the supplied information does not prove satisfactorily that a child meets the eligibility criteria for DCA, any mention of further reports/assessments are intended as an aide to the applicant as to the type of medical evidence which may prove useful in the future, as decisions are appealable.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
