Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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436. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will extend child benefit to children who are 18 years or over and attending full-time post-primary education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22405/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their eighteenth birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Estimated expenditure on the scheme will be approximately €2.1 billion in 2023.

There are currently no plans to extend Child Benefit in respect of post-primary students who are over 18 years of age. Such an extension would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.

Families on low incomes may be able to avail of a number of social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:

• Increase for a Qualified Child (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;
• the Working Family Payment for low-paid employees with children; and
• the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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437. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applicants for disability allowance in each year since 2018; the number of these which were considered long-term/whole-of-life disabilities; the number considered rehabilitation appropriate applications; the number of successful applications under both categories, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22409/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and habitual residency conditions.

The number of DA applications registered and awarded, and the number of these who were considered to have long-term or whole of life disabilities, from 2018 to 2022 are set out in the table below.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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438. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there are operational guidelines for medical assessors and social welfare inspections to allow for assessment of applications for disability allowance with a view to rehabilitation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22410/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions.

When making a decision, Deciding Officers (DO) are bound by the Social Welfare Acts and Regulations. This legislation includes provision for the DO to seek the opinion of a Medical Assessor (MA) in respect of whether or not a person satisfies the medical conditions for schemes such as DA. MAs are fully qualified medical practitioners with several years of experience in a variety of medical fields. Their opinions are informed by medical experience and clinical judgement.

Where an MA provides an opinion, the DO shall have regard to that opinion in deciding if the person is incapable of work. Each application is decided on its own merits. Both the MA and the DO take into account the vocational and educational experience of the claimant as well as their age and medical conditions when deciding if sufficient evidence has been provided to satisfy the qualifying criteria for DA.

A MA has no further role in the rehabilitation of a DA recipient. However, recognising that all work is rehabilitative, the DA scheme is structured to encourage recipients to avail of opportunities to engage in either insurable employment or self-employment. When an individual engages in work, they can avail of an income disregard of 100% of the first €165 earned per week. 50% of earnings between €165 and €375 are also disregarded for the purpose of the means test. Any amounts over €375 are assessed in full. This disregard is available to all DA recipients who engage in employment and there are no restrictions on the hours worked each week.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.