490 Mr. Enright asked the Minister for Health and Children the criteria for the payment of the domiciliary care allowance by health boards; the health boards which have back-dated the allowance to the age of two; the health boards which have back-dated the allowance to the date of birth; the health boards which are paying the domiciliary care allowance only from the date of application; if there are discrepancies within individual health boards regarding the payment of these allowances; if the domiciliary care allowance has been paid in any of the four counties of the Midland Health Board and back-dated to the age of two years and earlier; if payments are being made under different criteria to people in the different counties; and if so, his plans to ensure the allowance is granted on an equal basis to all children in the Midland Health Board area. [1198/02]

The domiciliary care allowance, DCA, was introduced in 1973 by way of circular 24/73 and is payable under section 61 of the Health Act, 1970. This is a monthly allowance paid by health boards from date of application up to the age of 16 years. It provides financial support to the carers of eligible children whose disability is so severe that they require care and attention which is considerably in excess of that normally required by a child of the same age. The allowance is not paid in respect of children maintained on a full time basis in special/residential institutions. However, the allowance may be paid on a pro-rata basis for the number of nights spent at home, e.g. weekends or holidays, by eligible children who attend special/residential institutions.

To be eligible to receive this allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: be under 16 years of age; the disability must be present at the time of the application and be likely to last for at least a year; the disability must be so severe that they require from another person constant care or supervision, that is, continual or continuous care or supervision substantially greater than that which would normally be required by a child of the same age; and the constant care or supervision must be provided by the parents themselves or by arrangement by them with another person or persons.