Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

I hear what the Minister is saying, but our experience in dealing with these claims is as outlined in the question. We are dealing with cases going back to July 2011 for the carer's allowance. It is not good enough that people have wait around that long to get clarification on whether they are entitled to the allowance or not. People have to get credit union loans to keep themselves going, while waiting for the approval or non-approval of the allowance to come through. It is the same for invalidity pensions. A person goes through an application for an invalidity pension and is refused. The review then takes 12 weeks and if that does not succeed there is then a six month wait for an appeal. That totals nearly 18 months for somebody waiting to find out whether or not he or she is entitled to an invalidity pension. That is not good enough.

When will this roll-out happen? The current situation cannot continue and something has to be done.

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