Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will allow the Department to address that. It seems as if waiting times are on the increase. Has a staffing issue arisen due to the Haddington Road or Croke Park agreements which has made the Department's job more difficult in terms of dealing with claimants?

I read the two forms. In 2015 I can walk into any bank or branch of the bank with which I deal and give my bank account number to the bank which is then able to pull up all kinds of details, including mortgages, car loans and insurance details. I have a unique PPS number which works across all Departments. If I am applying for a disability allowance and submit the PPS number of the person concerned, why can all of the relevant information not be automatically entered into the form? Why do we have to put such an intimidating form in front of people? I have come across people, as I am sure the delegations have, who decide the form is too much like hard work and do not bother with it. Why can we not automate a lot of the information?

If I am a carer, I have a PPS number, as do, I presume, my partner and the person for whom I am caring. If there is a proper database in place, I do not see any reason why the meta data cannot be automatically inputted into the form which is then sent out with only the information that is required, rather than people having to fill in all of the information. Maybe there is a reason behind it, but I do not understand why it cannot be done. That bothers me.

I refer to the assessment of disability. Leaving aside what the Chair said, there seems to be a problem in making assessments based on information on paper. I would like Dr. Singh to address that issue because as a medical practitioner he will know that an illness will devastate one person but not another.

The area in which I have most interest is access to education. For some reason, the back to education, VTOS and various other initiatives all seem to be aimed at work.

What is the Department's view on access to education for occupational therapy? I refer to cases where one is not looking for certification and if one is then it is merely to reach a certain level. The certification is not for work per se. I wonder whether the Department has taken enough steps to encourage access to education. Regardless of the disability, unless it is a severe mental disability, we can all benefit from education in some way or other. Those are all my questions.