THE PERCENTAGE of children being refused disability allowances under the domiciliary care allowance has trebled in the past four months, according to the Fine Gael spokesman on disability.
The scheme was transferred from the HSE to the Department of Social and Family Affairs in April.
Since that time the percentage of refused domiciliary care allowance applications has risen from an average of 21.5 per cent under the HSE in 2008, to 60 per cent under the department.
Fine Gael social and family affairs spokesman David Stanton, who received the figures from the HSE, has accused Fianna Fáil of “imposing stringent stealth cuts” on benefit payments for children with disabilities by “hiking up the refusal rate” for the allowance.
Mr Stanton claimed children with autism and intellectual disabilities were being denied funding because of a change in guidelines since the transfer of the scheme.
“The emphasis seems to have shifted to physical disabilities, thereby denying the entitlement of children with autism and intellectual disabilities.
“When the HSE administered the scheme, autistic children would qualify automatically due to the high level of additional care involved.”
A spokeswoman for the department said it was incorrect to assert that the disability allowance had been taken away from children with autism.
Out of 100 applications for the allowance awarded since the transfer of the scheme, 12 related to children who were specifically diagnosed with autism, autism spectrum disorder or Asperger’s syndrome, according to the department.
A further 16 children with the same diagnoses were refused under the scheme.