Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) is a social welfare scheme which allows a person to return to work or self-employment and continue to receive a payment from my department. A person must be in receipt of Illness Benefit (IB) for a minimum of six months or Invalidity Pension (IP) in order to apply for PCB. There is a two stage process application involved. The applicant first notifies my Department of their intent to take up employment and applies for PCB. My Department will determine whether the applicant is eligible and, if so, at what level the PCB would be paid. Once that decision is made, the applicant must then subsequently confirm that they wish to proceed on that basis and confirm the date that their employment is commencing. The PCB team will then put the relevant payment in place.

From a processing time perspective, the application is immediately referred for a medical assessment upon receipt. The applicant will qualify for PCB if their restriction on capacity for work is assessed by the Medical Assessor as moderate, severe, or profound. Once a medical opinion is recorded, the person concerned is notified of their potential entitlement. Currently notifications are being issued to applicants where the medical assessment is carried out at-desk within approximately 6 weeks of the original receipt of the application. Applicants are also advised at that time to notify my Department with their expected employment start date. The second stage of the process can only occur once my Department receives a notification that the applicant is proceeding with their employment. Once this is received a claim is processed generally within a week of receipt of this notification.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.