Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have had very capable people trying to apply. The process is complex and unclear. For example, I have had cases where people who have provided GP and consultant's reports had their applications turned down. There is something more than them not giving the correct information or applying too soon because very capable people I know of have applied and read all the criteria. The Department needs to look at the language it is using. For example, we had a case - I will not give the details - which took eight or nine months before it was finally won. By the time the applicant got the payment, he was experiencing huge mental health issues as a result of the delay.

He was an 18-year-old young man. When the letter came to say that it had been resolved and that he was going to get it, neither his mother or I could understand the letter. Maybe look at the language, whether is way too much information, and say do not apply to us until one has a GP or consultant's report, or something more than that. It is not just that people are applying too soon and they do not have enough information. A lot of people are very capable and understand they have to prove that they cannot work. There is something else going on there, and it is not just that they are applying too soon. I am asking the Department to look at it, that is all.