Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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705. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to allocate more medical officers to the Department to enable medical assessments to take place in a timely manner as per targets set; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38779/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A number of vacancies have arisen for Medical Assessors in the Department over the last year. In response, the Department in conjunction with the Public Appointment Service (PAS) is running a competition to recruit replacement/additional Medical Assessors. The closing date for applications is the 3rd October and it is hoped that appointments from this competition will take place early next year. This competition is one of a number of options that the Department is currently exploring in order to increase its capacity to carry out medical assessments and reviews of its illness/disability/caring schemes.