Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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100. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of medical assessors at present in the Department; if there are plans to increase this number to alleviate the backlog of medically based reviews and appeals that the Department is experiencing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19509/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are currently 23 Medical Assessors employed in my Department, including the Chief Medical Adviser and the Deputy Chief Medical Adviser. All of the staff in question serve on a full time basis. As an exception to the current moratorium in the civil and public service, my Department received sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to hold a competition to appoint Medical Assessors, with a view to filling critical vacancies that had arisen following the retirement of a number of serving Medical Assessors.

A public competition, administered on behalf of my Department by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) was held in 2012. Fourteen people were placed on the panel that was established following completion of the competitive process. There are four remaining candidates on this panel and my Department has continued to liaise with the Public Appointments Service with a view to appointing the four remaining candidates at the earliest opportunity.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all claims are examined as expeditiously as possible and the appointment of additional Medical Assessors will help to enable my Department to deliver a quality service to our customers.