Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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2. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the action he will take to ensure that vulnerable individuals are not left without access to an invalidity pension for months due to delays in processing appeals, such as in a case (details supplied); if consideration is given to ill health in how his Department interacts with applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31713/26]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I ask the Minister about the long delays in invalidity pension appeals. I am aware of one such case but I wonder whether there are others. In this particular case, the original appeal happened in January 2025. It is now five months since there was an appeal to the chief appeals officer but there has been nothing back. This woman clearly cannot work. She has extreme migraines that mean she often cannot get out of bed. She can barely take care of herself.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to ensure people claiming benefits satisfy the criteria established by the Oireachtas for entitlement to that benefit. However, in doing so, it is also important that we offer people who may not receive a favourable decision the opportunity to seek a review of that decision and submit a formal appeal. In that way, we work to ensure the entitlement is not denied to people who have a need for support and satisfy the relevant qualification conditions.

In the case of invalidity pension, we offer claimants both a review by the decision area as well as a formal appeal mechanism. In most cases, these reviews and appeals can be dealt with expeditiously. We are also continuously working to improve the service. For example, over the past year, we have introduced new regulations that extend the period of time during which a person can make an appeal from 21 to 60 days. The new regulations also grant additional rights to seek an oral hearing of the appeal and receive an explanation if an oral hearing is not granted. In addition, they grant specify specific timelines for the exchange and processing of appeal documentation.

In parallel, we have introduced a new IT system, including the ability to submit appeals online. An average of 60% of appeals are now received online. We have also significantly increased staffing in the appeals service. Indeed, I welcome members of the appeal service, who are in the Public Gallery.

These changes have resulted in a reduction in the number of appeals on hand from 21,630 appeals at the end of December 2024 to 7,470 appeals on hand at the end of March 2026. Processing times have also improved from an overall average of over 23 weeks in 2024 to just 9.5 weeks today in the case of invalidity pension.

However, having said all of that, some cases, in particular those involving the exchange of complicated medicine, take time to finalise. With respect to the case referenced in the Deputy's question, while I cannot discuss specific details on the floor, I have raised the case with the chief appeals officer, who acts independently in the performance of her duties, I will engage directly with the Deputy.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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In this case, the woman is often in so much pain that she cannot leave the house. Sometimes, she might be well and can function as others can, but on other days she cannot even open her eyes. She is obviously not in a position to find work. There is a question as to whether this case is illustrative of a wider approach of delaying appeals. The woman has made the point that she has the capacity to fight, contact a Deputy, write letters and do those things. However, she acknowledges that plenty of people cannot necessarily do that and, when confronted with a wall of delays and refusals, might just give up. Is this part of a policy? It is interesting that the number of recipients of invalidity pensions has fallen at a time when the population has increased and the number of recipients of other payments has increased. I wonder whether there is some sort of policy or approach being implemented to push people back from receiving what they are entitled to.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I can absolutely assure the Deputy that is not the policy and approach. As I said in my initial response, we are working continuously to improve the appeals process and are continuously investing in that process. We are also investing in the initial process in terms of medical assessment and knowledge. By introducing a new IT system, we have given people the capacity to make appeals online. They do not have to physically post applications; they can apply and exchange information online from the comfort of their own homes. We have also increased staffing in the appeals process office considerably.

As I want to reiterate, some 21,630 appeals were on hand at the end of December 2024, which we reduced to 7,470 by the end of March. More importantly, the processing times for appeals have reduced from 23 weeks in 2024 to nine and a half weeks today, in particular in the case of invalidity pension. I am very focused on appeals. I thank the appeals office, which is independent, for its work in this space. There is a specific issue with regard to the case raised by the Deputy, which we will discuss separately. I assure him that there is no policy to dissuade people from applying for any payment or making appeals.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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In that case, I do not know whether the Minister or Department has carried out any analysis of this area. What is the explanation for the decline in the number of recipients of invalidity pension? The number was about 55,000 in 2015, which rose to 59,000 in 2020, but the figure has fallen year on year to a low of just over 55,000 in 2024. There has been an increase of only 1% despite the population having significantly increased over ten years. The number in receipt of carer's allowance is up from 62,000 in 2015 to almost 100,000 in 2024, a 56% increase. The number in receipt of disability allowance is up from about 120,000 to close to 170,000, but the number in receipt of illness benefit has fallen. The Minister has said there is no policy of his predecessor's "I, Daniel Blake" policy, which was withdrawn and is not being implemented through the back door, in terms of targets to refuse applications or make it harder for people to access illness benefit and invalidity pension.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I can do some work and come back to the Deputy on invalidity generally. As he said, there have also been increases in disability and other areas, such as carer's allowance. There is definitely no policy to discourage people from applying. It can be challenging in terms of getting the necessary medical information, in particular where a case is not as black and white as other cases may be. The appeals team and medical team are very much attuned to those cases. That is why we have put a focus on invalidity and domiciliary care allowance appeals and reducing the processing time in order to give certainty to those making the appeal.

I will engage with the Deputy directly on the specific case he mentioned and will come back to the House generally on invalidity pension and illness benefit and the relevant figures.