Families turn to High Court for disability grant

An increasing number of families are being forced to go to the High Court to reverse decisions not to grant allowances for children with severe disabilities.

Figures from the Department of Social Protection show 66% of applications for the domiciliary care allowance — worth €309 to a family monthly — were refused last year.

The payment is made to the carer of a child with a severe disability who lives at home, but the level of refusals from the department, and the length of the appeals process, has seen more families go to court to have decisions overturned.