Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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545. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason there is a 14 week wait for answers in relation to disability allowance applications. [10423/19]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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My Department is committed to making decisions on entitlement as quickly as possible.  

In general, social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process.  Before a decision can be made on entitlement to disability allowance (DA), evidence must be provided in respect of the person’s medical condition, the extent to which it restricts them from taking up employment, their means and their habitual residency.

The target processing time for the DA scheme is to process 75% of new claims within 12 weeks.  In January 2019, the average waiting time for new DA applications was 14 weeks.

My Department recognises that the current processing times for DA must be improved and is working to achieve this.  The current processes in place and resources assigned to this area of my Department, along with the number of Medical Assessors available to provide medical opinions are kept under constant review to ensure that any delays are minimised.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.