Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Pringle for his words of congratulation to me and the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys.

There are no backlogs in the provision of medical opinions on welfare entitlements. At the end of December, the number of medical opinions in process had fallen by 19%, from 3,617 to 2,923. The number of assessments in hand equates to less than four weeks' work. Some 48,000 medical opinions were provided in 2013.

Deputy Pringle will recall the problems caused by the large backlog I inherited when I became Minister. The Department made significant changes in work processes, especially in the area of information technology. I remember that Deputies were extremely patient when we discussed the matter in the House.

We have actually cleared those backlogs, although I do not know whether the Deputy has a specific case in mind. Service delivery is a key priority for the Department and we have invested heavily in IT and business processes to ensure claims and appeals are processed as expeditiously as possible. We have made good progress over the past two years in clearing backlogs or schemes involving medical eligibility criteria. Medical assessors have a key role in advising on eligibility.

The Department has a core authorised number of 27 medical assessors, including the chief and deputy chief medical advisers. To ensure there are sufficient medical assessor posts available, the Department recently reached agreement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for the allocation of four additional medical assessor posts to increase the number to 31.

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