Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will clarify if eligibility criteria for the disability allowance have changed over the past year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44420/12]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she has received the report on State payments to the disabled from the expert advisory group on tax and social welfare; her views on same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44578/12]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of disability allowance applications that have been made, accepted and rejected to date in 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44410/12]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on the proposal to end disability allowance payments to children under the age of 18 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44577/12]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is concerned by the rate of refusal of disability allowance at first application in view of the fact that 33% of appeals against these refusals are successful. [44561/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 57, 69, 73, 78 and 81 together.

There have been no cuts whatsoever to disability allowance or to any of the Department's other disability schemes. This is borne out by the increasing numbers of claimants and payments. It should be noted that all the Department's schemes are demand-led and are not budget capped. A total of €0.82 billion has been spent on disability allowances to the end of September 2012 and there were just over 103,000 recipients as at the end of August 2012.

Expenditure on the disability allowance in 2011 was over €1.09 billion in respect of 102,866 recipients. There are more people receiving disability allowance this year and we are spending more money on it this year. There have been no cuts whatsoever.

Following budget 2012, I requested the advisory group on tax and social welfare to examine and report on the policy objectives underpinning the budgetary proposals relating to the disability allowance and domiciliary care allowance. The group was established last year. Its report is being finalised and it has not yet been submitted to me.

I am conscious that the budget 2012 measures concerning disability allowance and the domiciliary care allowance gave rise to concerns about the impact on families of people with disabilities, most notably in the case of families of children and young adults with profound disabilities. These very real concerns are being taken into account by the advisory group. When the group reverts to me with its report on these proposals, I, together with my Government colleagues, will reflect carefully on the findings. However, it should be noted that the payment of disability allowance at such a young age may give rise to issues within families as to the control and use of the payment. The Deputy will agree on this point. The view has been expressed over a long period that it is appropriate and proper that income in respect of a child go to the parent rather than having the child receive a social welfare payment at 16.

The number of claims decided on the disability allowance scheme in the first nine months of 2012 was 19,702. Of these, 7,513 allowances, or 38%, were awarded, and 11,170, or 57%, were refused. The balance of claims was withdrawn by the applicants. The refusal rate has been broadly consistent over the past three years, with comparable rates of 58% in 2011 and 54% in 2010. The refusal rate in any year reflects the extent to which the applications made meet the qualifying conditions for the scheme.

In all cases, the applicant has the right to have his decision reviewed by a deciding officer, or he can appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. The overall trend of disability allowance appeals being allowed or partly allowed by that office has been reducing over the past six years, having peaked at 49% in 2009. I am satisfied that each case is fully considered and adjudicated on its individual merits at all stages of the decision-making and appeals process.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister undertake to publish the advisory group's report on the disability and domiciliary care allowances when she receives it?

In a reply to me, dated 23 August 2012, the Minister gave me statistics on the disability allowance. In 2009, there were 20,794 applications received and the number disallowed was 9,677, indicating a success rate of 55% or refusal rate of 45%. In 2010, there were 21,409 applications received and 10,316 were disallowed, again suggesting a rejection rate of 45% and an acceptance rate of 55%. However, in 2011, the number of applications received was 24,264 while the number of applications refused was 14,116, representing a success rate of 38%. Therefore, the success rate decreased from 55% over the preceding two years to 38% in 2011. The figures for the year to date up to September, which the Minister has just given, indicate a 37% success rate.

Does the Minister agree that it appears a different approach is being taken to applications for disability allowance, in that the success rates have suddenly dropped from 55% in 2009 and 2010 to 38% and 27% in 2011 and 2012, respectively?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I reiterate that no changes have been made to the conditionality or rules governing applications for disability allowance. We will not know the final outcomes for 2012 until after the year end, but the Deputy's citation of the statistics was interesting. The highest level of awards, some 49%, was in 2009. In 2010, when his party was in government, the figure fell sharply according to the Department's statistics.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Not according to the Minister's letter. I will cite it again.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy just cited the statistics. The figure fell to 39%. Last year, it was 38%. We do not know the final outcome for this year, but the figure is hovering around the same level.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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That is incorrect.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In 2006, there were 18,000 disability allowance claims. In 2011, there were 24,000 claims. The Deputy needs to consider the fact that all areas of social welfare have been heavily impacted by the financial crisis bequeathed to us, by the number of people who have lost their jobs, by those who have become ill and by changes in the population. There has been a significant increase in volume. The changes occurred during the Deputy's period in government.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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No, that is a lie. That is incorrect.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Dea, please.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy just cited the statistics.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Yes.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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They are exactly the same, give or take a point of a difference.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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No, the fall was in 2011.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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We do not know the outcome yet. One must consider the total numbers and total spend, both of which have increased. There have been no changes in conditionality.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Wallace is next, but I may call Deputy O'Dea again. Deputy Wallace should be brief, as three Deputies have asked questions.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I realise that there is not an endless supply of money. However, as the Minister admitted, the numbers needing help are increasing. Medical improvements mean that people live for longer and babies are surviving whereas they might not have previously. People with disabilities will not be able to suffer further cuts, although I am not saying that the Minister plans any. She does not need me to tell her the statistics. People with disabilities are much more likely to experience poverty. Many of them also live in households experiencing difficulties amplified by austerity. These people are not isolated from austerity. I am sure that the Minister is aware that they also have poor educational outcomes.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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A question, please.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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The number of people in need of help is increasing. A government's raison d'être should be to take care of those most in need. In this light, will the Minister protect people with disabilities in the budget?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Approaching last year's budget, I gave an undertaking to do my best to ensure that core social welfare rates would be protected. I am happy to say that this occurred, particularly in terms of disability. Our society has a problem as a consequence of the collapse of the banks, the building industry and the tax revenues related to the latter.

Even within these constraints, it is a tribute to everyone in the Dáil that Deputies from the Government and the Opposition have strongly supported me in helping people on a disability payment. I am not able to tell the Deputy now what will be the outcome of the budget deliberations, but I will make the case very strongly to my colleagues around the Cabinet table. I hope, like last year, there will be a positive response.

Since becoming Minister, I have introduced a series of initiatives which we do not have time to debate now but which assist people with a disability by having the employability services help employers who take on people with a disability. One of the problems for many people with a disability is that if it is difficult for an able-bodied person to get a job now, it is even more difficult for people with a disability. I have done much for employers, including giving grants and wage subsidies, to encourage them to give people with a disability an opportunity to participate in the labour force.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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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?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I can give the Deputy that assurance. In 2001, the disability payments bill was €1.1 billion, and that increased in 2011 to €2.7 billion. The number of people claiming in 2001 was 173,000 and that has grown to 242,000, or just shy of 250,000. The scheme is demand-led and is not capped. I spoke to the Deputy about this. We are seeking to improve the structure of the scheme to give a better service. As the Deputy and I have discussed on a number of occasions, there has been a big surge in applications. I can send the Deputy a summary of why people are unsuccessful in appeals. Very often, at the initial application stage, people's applications may be seriously incomplete. There may not be the quality medical evidence that is required to allow the medical assessor to stipulate that a person qualifies for a disability payment.

As the Deputy is aware, what happens then is that people submit a further application or an appeal - very often in multiples. Some people simply do not produce the paper work. We are working on projects to ensure that is improved over a period of time. As I said, we are computerising and scanning the applications so that if an application is incomplete, we can hold it. We do not have to recreate the entire application.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I find it extraordinary. This system has been in place for many years and people are suddenly starting to produce inadequate applications. When did this start? The Minister stated that in the last year of the previous Government - 2010 - there was a jump in refusals. Her letter dated 23 August states that in 2010, some 21,409 applications were received. The number of applications disallowed in that year was 10,316. We do not have to get out our calculators to know that is less than half, or 45%. Some 55% were successful. In 2011, however, the number of applications received was 24,264. The number of applications disallowed was 14,116, which is a 62% refusal rate and a 38% success rate. That is the difference between 2010 and 2011. I put that to the Minister again to correct her previous statement. As I said, according to the Minister's letter dated 23 August and signed by herself, there was a 45% refusal rate in 2010 and a 62% refusal rate in 2011.

Is it not untrue to say there is no change in the eligibility criteria? Do I not recall something in the social welfare part of last year's budget whereby instead of being substantially restricted, there must be a 15% measurable disability? Has that change not occurred? Perhaps that explains the increase in the refusal rate.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Will the domiciliary care allowance review, in which many voluntary groups, including the Carers Association and the DCA Warriors, participated and gave much time to be published before the budget?

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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In the first six months of this year, the refusal rate for the invalidity pension was 87%. It shows an increase in the refusal rate for those medical-based payments. Will the Minister comment on that significant increase in the first six months of this year?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Going back to Deputy O'Dea's last comment, I think he is referring to the scheme I brought in after I became Minister of a partial disability payment which was long requested by disability organisations to allow people to go back to work. For instance, somebody might have a long-term condition from which he or she suffers periodically but he or she may wish to continue to work. I brought that in because I was very anxious to ensure that people who have a disability are facilitated in going back to work to the maximum extent. The figures the Deputy read out in regard to cases decided - I have the same figures here - indicated that the high point in regard to allowance rates was 49% in 2009. In 2010, it went down to 39% and it has stayed in and around that since then. I am reading out the statistics that have been given to me by the Department. All I can say is that the statistics are published by the Department. If the Deputy refuses to believe them-----

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I can read.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The proof is that the numbers of people and the amount spent on disability benefits have continued to increase because there have been no changes in conditionality.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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That has nothing to do with it. The Minister is using an increase in applications as a justification for a percentage of success.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am sure the Deputy will welcome the fact that the Government is spending more on disability allowance than was the case when he was in Government at the height of the economic boom.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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That has nothing to do with it. We accepted more applications.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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With regard to Deputy Wallace's question about carers, in last year's budget I prioritised that carers would not receive a reduction in the payments made to them. I am happy that my colleagues in Government supported that approach. I am aware that people who have a disability are dependent on the quality of services they receive. When I met the 35 groups last Friday for four hours of discussion about the forthcoming budget and how the current economic crisis affected them, four or five of the groups were present to specifically represent people with disabilities, including, for the first time, centres for independent living. They made a compelling case about their members, many of whom are wheelchair users but who are active in the workforce and in education. They are anxious that the Government makes more of an effort to encourage employers to give people with a disability a chance.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Will the review be published prior to the budget?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The review will be published after it has gone to Government. As I said earlier - I do not know if the Deputy was here at the time - I have not received the review because it is not complete; that is my advice. When I get it, I will study it. I will then have to take it to my colleagues in Government. No decisions have been made about this year's budget but protecting the incomes of people who have a disability is important and the money spent has increased.

The numbers applying for invalidity pension, like for other benefits, has increased.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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That is a bogus argument.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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As the Deputy will be aware, there is a significant difficulty with people submitting incomplete applications at the first stage.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Minister making the case that because more people apply, that is a justification for the percentage of success dropping? Is it acceptable that because more people apply, the number of refusals increases? That is what she seems to be saying.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The problem is when the Deputy becomes more familiar with this area-----

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I have heard this several times.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Has the Deputy a problem?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is going back again.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy looks a bit cross and I would not like to make him cross.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister would not have what it takes to make me cross.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I would be worried if the Deputy was to be cross. It would be a cause of upset not just to me but perhaps to the nation.

There is a consistent problem with disability applications with which many Members will be familiar, which is that people submit incomplete forms. They, therefore, have to submit further applications or else they are refused because they do not give sufficient supporting medical data when they make the initial application. We are working on this in the Department. Many Members assist individual constituents and it would be hugely helpful to the Department if the applications were as complete as possible and had as much supporting medical evidence as possible from the applicants' medical advisers. That would certainly help.