22. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of domiciliary care allowance applications refused in Cork to date in 2026; and the number of these granted on appeal. [66851/26]

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.

Over the year to the end of August 2026, there were just over 4,000 applications for Domiciliary Care Allowance refused nationwide.  Figures for claims processing are not available on a county level, and are only available at the national level.

Over the year to the end of August 2026, there were over 2,300 appeal decisions for Domiciliary Care Allowance.  Of these, just over 1,700 were decided in favour of the appellant.  This includes where the applicant received a revised decision from the scheme area or where the claim was allowed or partially allowed by an Appeals Officer.

There can be multiple reasons for an appeal, apart from a claim being refused.  This could include the backdating of a claim for example.  Therefore not all appeals are for rejection of a claim.  It is not currently possible to break down the figures by reason for the appeal.

Details on the number of claims registered, awarded, and rejected by scheme are published in my department's Annual Statistics Report.  The 2025 Annual Statistics Report was published earlier this year and is available under the Department's recent publication section of its website on www.gov.ie.