Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Does the Minister agree that the significant rise in the number of people applying for disability allowance is a consequence not only of the downturn but especially the added difficulty that people with a disability have in accessing employment at this stage? It is very disappointing to have the refusal rate as high as it is, at 62%. Is the Minister concerned that in 2011, one in three of the disability allowance refusals appealed to the Department was successful? It is a significant number, meaning that with a third of cases, the work in the initial phase was done incorrectly. The Ombudsman has raised the concern that a cost-cutting agenda was pursued, leading to people who would have been entitled to payments on a medical basis before the recession being refused now. Will the Minister assure the House that there is no internal directive or unwritten rule to refuse disability allowance applications and hope they will go away or only be granted on appeal, with a delay in between?

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