Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is a very welcome announcement that the Department will not pursue overpayments. That will alleviate the anxiety of many people. Partial capacity benefit was introduced in 2012 when there were 700 recipients. That number increased moderately over the years and now stands at 3,172 recipients. Partial capacity benefit aims to extend illness benefit or invalidity pensions. However, when the entitlement to illness benefit expires, the recipient of PCB is sometimes left without any social welfare payment for 13 weeks while waiting to requalify. This fear of losing eligibility for payment may be the cause of the modest increase in the numbers on the scheme over the years. This was highlighted in the internal review of the scheme by the Department. Implementation of all the recommendations from this report, including the 13-week requalification anomaly, was part of the report, Make Work Pay for People with Disabilities, submitted to the Government in 2012. Is the Minister still committed to recommendation 12 of that report and will she provide an update on the work on the 13-week requalification period that sees people lose their payment while waiting to be requalified?

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