Mark Wall
Question:440. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department is working on reforms to the domiciliary care allowance payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11151/26]
View answerThursday, 12 February 2026
Questions (440)
Written answers
Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly non-means tested payment to a parent or guardian for a child aged up to 16 who has a severe disability. The child must require care and attention substantially over and above that required by other children their age. Eligibility is not based on the disability or diagnosis, but rather on the impact of the disability in terms of the level of care and attention required by the child. Where a person is caring for more than one child who qualifies for Domiciliary Care Allowance, they may claim the monthly allowance of €380 for each child.
As part of Budget 2026, I increased the monthly rate of DCA by €20, bringing it to €380 from January. This payment has increased by €70.50 per month since January 2023.
There are currently over 62,800 families in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance in respect of approximately 71,500 children. The estimated spend on this payment in 2026 is almost €359 million.
Domiciliary Care Allowance can now be applied for online, and improvements have been made to the application process to make it easier for families.
In acknowledging the financial burden families of sick children face significant changes have been made in recent years to the Domiciliary Care Allowance payment.
• As part of Budget 2022, the period during which Domiciliary Care Allowance can be paid for children in hospital was extended from 3 months to 6 months.
• As of May 2024, for babies who remain in an acute hospital after birth the period was extended from 6 months to 18 months.
During both these extended periods of eligibility and where other conditions are met, a carer may also receive Carer's Allowance or Carer's Benefit and the Carer's Support Grant.
The Programme for Government contains a wide range of commitments for family carers which will continue to be advanced over the lifetime of the Government, taking account of available resources. We have committed to progressively increasing the rate of the Domiciliary Care Allowance and to examining the extension of the free travel scheme to children in respect of whom the payment is in place.
Any further reforms to Domiciliary Care Allowance, will be considered in the context of these commitments and the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030, having regard to budgetary resources.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.