Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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107. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures that she is taking to identify persons who were on disability allowance to change due to training/education advancement to ensure that they can avail of the disability one-off payment announcement in Budget 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59268/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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People on training courses, having previously been in receipt of a Disability Allowance payment, will receive the €500 Disability Support Grant.

My Department has acted very quickly to deliver the Disability Support Grant and other budget measures within an exceptionally short timeframe. Wherever possible, budget measures that are usually implemented in the January to March period of the year following a budget announcement, have been brought forward and implemented within a period of weeks. While this early issue of payments was very challenging it was possible to achieve for people paid directly off the Department’s own payment systems.

However, when undertaking training courses, recipients of Disability Allowance move off the Department’s payment systems and transfer to a Department of Further, Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science funded Training Allowance. As a consequence, it was not possible to process early payment of the Disability Support Grant to these recipients in the same manner as was implemented in respect of people paid directly through the Department’s own systems.

My officials are examining this issue in conjunction with their colleagues in the Department of Further, Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to ensure the payment is made to those who are on such training courses as soon as possible.