“It really saddens and angers me to see this debate about the domiciliary care allowance (DCA) continuing today. I know from our nurses who are based in every community in Ireland that the 288 families under our wing, who have babies with severe developmental delay as a result of brain damage, have been adversely affected by delays of up to 8 months in their applications for domiciliary care allowance, and furthermore the granting of carer’s allowance and medical cards are all intertwined with this one payment.

“What is also shocking to me is that the HSE continues to ask our families to fill in review forms for the DCA, knowing that the children under Jack & Jill care will not get better. What’s really appalling is that as soon as a family gets that letter stating their DCA is being reviewed, that same DCA payment is stopped throughout the whole review process. That’s just bureaucracy gone mad and totally unfair. They are effectively treating the parents of severely disabled children with contempt and making life much more miserable for them.

“When my son Jack Irwin was born in February 1996 there was no domiciliary care allowance until the child reached the age of 2 years old. Why? Because civil servants expected that children like Jack would not survive beyond 2 years old – shocking but true. After much debate with the then Minister for Health Brian Cowen and with the help of Charlie McCreevy we had a breakthrough and the DCA for children from birth was introduced between 1996 and 1997. But now as a society we’re going backwards when it comes to the healthcare of the most vulnerable in society.

“These children and their parents must be treated with dignity. The economic model for caring for sick children at home is a ‘no brainer’ a phrase repeated again and again when we met 40 TDs and Senators last week to urge them to do something about the fact that Ireland doesn’t have a national paediatric home nursing care budget. We could paper the walls of Leinster House with all the policies supporting home nursing care for severely disabled children. And the economic model proves that it is nine times less expensive to care for a child at home at €16,422 per annum, compared to €147,365 for hospital care (Trinity Report ‘No place like home’ February 2010). But what do we have in Ireland today? Delays, cuts and incompetence from the HSE at the top.

“I’m calling on the Minister for Health, the Minister for Children, the Minister for Social Welfare and the Ministers for Finance to sort this domiciliary care allowance crisis out and to sort the delays in carer’s allowance and medical cards in the process. Our children and their parents deserve better and no politician can hide behind the ‘no money’ excuse because sorting it out won’t cost money – it will actually save money. If parents are to care for their sick child at home they must be supported by the State to do so. Bottom line.

“I also want to repeat our call (a joint call with the Irish Hospice Foundation) for a national paediatric home nursing care budget to meet the needs of the 1,400 children in Ireland today with life-limiting conditions. A case we argued in Leinster House last week. Having no national paediatric home nursing care budget in Ireland today is causing major challenges as funding is ad hoc and difficult to track while tremendous resources are being spent chasing up scarce resources. There are inconsistent practices between regions, hidden costs to the taxpayer and a greater burden on acute services, as well as greater stresses to parents who want their children at home, but need good support to do so. We can start by ringfencing a budget. Our initial calculations suggest that a minimum of €14.5 million should be ringfenced in year one.”

Speaking during Leaders’ Questions Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said the Government seemed to be targeting autism in its review of the Domiciliary Care Allowance. Mr Martin told the Dáil that about 50% of children with autism have lost the allowance.

Domiciliary Care Allowance is paid to more than 24,000 parents in respect of 26,000 children at an estimated cost of €100 million in 2011. The Respite Care Grant cost a further €45 million.

But I am struggling to find out how much a child under government care actual costs the state. Parents should be better support financial to provide the vital care and early intervention that makes all the difference not subjected to trial like interviews to justify their position as Carers.

If you haven’t already done so I would strongly recommend that you start to prepare and gather documentation to support your case if/when your review comes around. Don’t count on the department assessing your case to truly understand the care you have to provide for your child with special needs.

The group’s aim is to offer assistance and a social outlet to teenagers with conditions including dyspraxia, dyslexia, ADHD, asperger spectrum, autism and sensory processing disorder.

The open day, which was held at the Adair Hall is the latest of these events which are dedicated to helping local children with learning difficulties and their families.

A number of professionals representing a wide variety of different interest groups were also on hand to offer advice and support to parents.

These included: Aisling Drea, sports including disability officer with the Cork Sports Partnership; Valerie Mccormack, physical instructor with K2NY and representatives from Let’s Talk Speech and Language Therapy and the Stepping Ahead Clinic Occupational Therapy.

For more details about FACE contact Tom on 087 2278459 or email facefermoy@gmail.com http://www.facefermoy.com

As you can imagine the stress, hassle and issues this has created not only for his Disability Allowance but for all other means test payments such as Household Benefit Package, Medical Card, Fuel Allowance, just  to name a few.

The most disappointing aspect of the whole situation is the fact that with professional advice this could have all been avoided. He could have benefited from the €80,000 without facing the consequence that he now finds himself in.

As parents it is only natural to worry about your child future but what is more important is that you don’t innocently jeopardise your child’s access to means test benefits. Do your research; understand how these state benefits work. Then speak to your financial planner and get your solicitor to update your will.

The official line from the department on eligibility for Domiciliary Care Allowance is that it is based primarily on the resulting lack of function of body or mind demanding a degree of extra care and attention.

What this means in plain English is that the department are not disagreeing that your child has Down Syndrome or some other type of special needs. But what they are disputing is that you are giving your child additional care over and above that of a child of similar age.

Parents have to understand, this is the criteria that you are being judged on, not your child’s illness.

The Department uses a set of guidelines in determining the medical eligibility of children for this allowance. Each application is assessed on an individual basis taking account of all the information supplied in the application form.

This is a combination of the parent’s information and their doctor’s assessment. Any experts used to support the claim such as a therapist or consultants will also be considered.  This is important to realise as parents often get frustrated in the knowledge of another parent whose child has the same condition as their child, but they are now in receipt of the allowance.

My advice to parents is if you believe you are entitled to this allowance then you need to put an honest and strong case forward or else is will be rejected. This means keeping a detail diary of the care you provide for your child. In other words, what exactly are you doing for your child over and above another parent would typically do. The more information you can supply the better.

Show examples where you assist your child in communication, interaction, learning, feeding, dressing, hygiene and sleeping. If possible write down any additional measures you have in place to keep your child safe and out of harm’s way. List your monthly appointment for your child and any medication you administer. If your child has additional behavioural issue, show how you have to deal with these issues.

Above all just make sure you demonstrate clearly how you support your child and provide extra care. I hope this give you a better understanding on how best to fill in your Domiciliary Care Allowance form. Good luck because from my experience you will need it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uJpK1jbDcDQ

We hope you get a better grasp of benefits, entitlements, tax credits, wills and general financial planning issues. The most important thing we want you to realise is that your child’s future can be brighter if you get the proper financial advice. Having a plan in place that gets your family finances in shape will give you the financial resources to support your child through the key transition in life.

Your first step to making your future more financially secure is to take action, make a call to our office to discuss your financial situation. We look forward to assisting you.

Let’s start with some good news; Domiciliary Care Allowance, Respite Care Grant, Carer’s Allowance & Benefit payments remain the same for 2012. So too will the tax reliefs such as Incapacity Child Tax Credit.

If you purchased your home between 2004 – 2008 then mortgage interest supplement will increase but just before you smile, most households will see a €100 property charge.

Some key changes are around the rules for One-Parent Family Payments and Family Income Supplement. Child Benefit for your third and subsequent children will be reduced to €140 per child over a 2-year period. A cut in the cold-weather allowance, Back-to-School Clothing Allowance and the Household Benefit Package will also hit many families.

I can only assume private health insurance will rise again due to extra charges for private treatments in public hospitals. If that’s not bad enough then the Drug Payment Scheme will now cost families €132 per month. This is at a time when it is increasingly difficult to get a medical card. This is going to impact on parents whose children need regular medication.

The usual suspects will also increase; petrol, diesel, motor tax and cigarettes plus many other items when the VAT rate of 21% goes to 23%. However, school books, clothes and groceries have a different VAT rate so you will not see any difference in the price of these items.

Capital Acquisition Tax and Capital Gains Tax will increase to 30%. Parents who have savings will also be hit with an increase in DIRT tax which is now 30%.

In my opinion the biggest impact will be on new claimants of Disability Allowance, claimants will have to be 18 before they can claim (previously 16). On top of this they will only receive €100 a week till they reach the age of 21. People aged 22-24 will now get €144 per week down from €188. Let’s hope the government do a U-turn on this as it will take around €35,000 out of the hands of young adults.

I am a big advocate for planning and with further austerity measures planned then it has never been a better time to update your financial plan. If you have a question on the budget or around a financial issue with your child with special needs, feel free to call me on 021 482 3635. Alternatively, email allan@financialwellbeing.ie or check out www.financialwellbeing.ie

The Carer’s Allowance is a means tested payment so any income, assets or savings you have will be taken in to consideration. The payment is mainly aimed at families earning less than €40,000 a year. In order to receive your payment you must not be engaged in employment or education courses for more than 15-hours a week. During your absence, adequate care for your special needs child must be arranged.

The first step in getting the Carer’s Allowance is that you must be in receipt of a Domiciliary Care Allowance. You can still receive Carer’s Allowance when your child is over the age of 16, but you will have to prove that your child is so incapacitated as to require full-time care.

Some parents automatically choose the mother to become Carer but in two recent financial plans that I completed, I recommend the husbands. The rationale behind my recommendation is both mothers had better careers and employment perks.

My recommendation to all parents is just think it through before you go on Carer’s. If you would like me to check if you are entitled to Carer’s Allowance then feel free to contact me on 021 482 3635.

The establishment of ‘Connect – Linking Business & Charity’ in October 2010 created a forum for charities to raise funds and create awareness of their cause.  For businesses, it promotes their company and supports the charity while also getting something in return through effective business networking.  This unique concept links local businesses and charities to the mutual benefit of both sides.

The Cork Lions Club has provided over 50 years of dedicated service to the community within the Cork area, fundraising for a large range of charitable initiatives.  With these tough economic times, basic food requirements are a serious problem for many families, especially during the Christmas season. Last year the club provided 300 food hampers for the needy over this period and unfortunately the situation has not improved. The Cork Lions Club expects a big increase in the numbers of requests for food hampers this year and the Connect event hopes to help address these needs.

Connect events commence at 5.45 with open networking, followed by a short presentation from the nominated charity.  Before the excitement of the speed networking starts, five business cards are drawn, giving winners the opportunity for a one minute elevator pitch. The speed sessions then take place for 40 minutes.  Finally, everyone can relax and take part in some casual networking in the bar to follow up on business leads, finishing up at approximately 8 p.m.

Christopher Allander, President of Cork Lions Club, says that “the Club are delighted that ‘Connect – Linking Business & Charity’ have selected the Lions Club’s Christmas Food Appeal as the beneficiary of the proposed business networking event at the Gresham Metropole Hotel on the 24^th November. It will provide the business people of Cork, who have always been excellent supporters of the Club’s fundraising initiatives, with a timely opportunity to contribute to our Christmas Food Appeal, as well as potentially benefiting their businesses by the networking opportunities provided. It is a definite win-win opportunity for both sides in these difficult economic times.”

The fee for participation is just €20 and all monies raised go directly to the nominated charity at the end of each event. Further information on ‘Connect – Linking Business & Charity’ events can be found by visiting http://connectireland.blogspot.com/

To register and book your place: Please email connectire@gmail.com  including your name, business & full contact details. Alternatively, you can register and donate in advance by visiting http://www.corklionsclub.ie/

Further information: contact Allan Cuthbert 021 482 3635