Department of the Taoiseach

My request relates to the DPMA allowance. On Feb 1, 2023 the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, took Leaders' Questions and addressed issues related to the withholding of the DPMA allowance from certain individuals in care. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2023-02-01/10/ He said: In 1996, the allowance was renamed the disability allowance and responsibility for it was transferred to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, as it was called at the time. Since 2007, it has been paid in full to people with disabilities living in long-term care, so this matter was resolved 15 years ago. However, the question that arose in 2009 was whether there should have been retrospection and back pay. It is an historical issue, a legacy issue, but to me it does appear different from the nursing homes charges issue. It appears different in substance because the legal advice is different and the legal advice and position became clearer after the High Court ruling. It is something we are going to look into over the next week or two and respond to further. And the legal advice on the DPMA was that the State did not have a leg to stand on. Over the course of the next few days comments from other ministers discussed potential restitution and other options. I seek: All correspondence and documents on the issue regarding the assessment, discussion or resolution of this issue. This should include any details on measures proposed or tabled to address this matter and any memo that went to the Taoiseach's office on this issue. For the avoidance of doubt, the purpose of this request is to establish what actions were taken or considered to address this. My request can be limited to any document created or circulated after January 28, 2023. The request is focused on the DPMA issue and not the similar nursing home issue that was also discussed in the debate.