Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The assessors are not over-riding or questioning the diagnosis. The diagnosis is done by the doctor. It is the overall picture. The diagnosis is not questioned. If someone is seriously ill, the doctor will diagnose that.

We will certainly look at the point raised by Deputy Collins. However, customers are advised to provide all the necessary information at the application stage. If there are particular problems in that regard we will go back and have a look at that. As far as I am aware, customers are advised to provide all necessary information in the first instance. Like Deputy Collins, we handle many queries that come to our clinic on the appeals side and we are surprised at the information people have not provided in the first instance. Let us look at how it is explained and the amount of information that is needed.

There are approximately 25 medical assessors and 19 are available in any working week. A recruitment process or competition is under way at the moment. The need for medical assessors, like the need for all staff, is constantly under review.

I take the point that we have a changing matrix and population. We have people ageing and so on and that will be a challenge for this Government and for any future government given the changing make-up of the population and the demands that this will bring, especially in the area of the Department of Social Protection as well as pensions, health and many other areas. All of that will have to be assessed and taken into consideration in future years. At the moment we are in a baby boom era but like many other European countries we will be facing an ageing population and the associated challenges in future.