Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 375: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average turnaround time in respect of cases that come before the chief medical adviser to his Department; the number of doctors employed to deal with cases in this section; if he is satisfied that the present system employed where a medical decision has to be made is in the interest of his Department's customers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25101/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Medical Review and Assessment Service (MRAS) is the principal control mechanism for all illness and disability schemes administered by my Department. The role of the Medical Assessor in the MRAS is to assess our customers to ascertain if they satisfy the prescribed medical criteria for the various illness related schemes operated by my Department.

The average turnaround time of cases processed by the MRAS varies according to the scheme concerned. Cases are prioritised to ensure that the customer awaiting a decision regarding payment for schemes such as Disability Allowance or Carer's Allowance are given top priority. The majority of cases are assessed by Medical Advisors on the basis of documentation provided by the customer and his/her doctor, and where no further examination is required, the average turnaround time is 1-2 days. Cases requiring a medical examination by a Medical Assessor may take up to 6-10 weeks.

Claims for Illness Benefit are generally put into payment without an assessment by a Medical Assessor. Cases are reviewed during the course of the claim and, as these are less time-critical, they are scheduled for examination in order of date referred. The turnaround time for these cases can vary from weeks to several months subject to availability of resources. The current cadre of Medical Assessors is 21, comprising 19 Medical Assessors, the Deputy Chief Medical Adviser and the Chief Medical Adviser. In 2006 a total of 32,835 medical examinations and 73,188 desk assessments was carried out by the Medical Assessors.

The Medical Assessment system is designed to ensure that customers claiming a disability payment meet the medical criteria for the scheme. Medical Assessors take account of all relevant and available medical information, as well as information from the medical examination, in forming their opinion of the person's capacity for work. Any information provided by the customer is taken into account and further specialist advice is obtained if this is considered necessary. Medical Review and Assessment Section operates a Help-Desk which customers are invited to contact if they wish to discuss any aspect of the examination process. On average a total of 1,200 telephone calls is received monthly from customers.

I am satisfied that claimants are treated in a fair and equitable manner having regard to the need to ensure that the conditions for entitlement to disability payments are upheld.