Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that Disability Allowance (DA) applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible.

The DA scheme has a number of complex qualifying conditions and can take longer to process. Before a decision can be made on an entitlement to 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 award 75% of applications within 10 weeks. Currently, the average waiting time to award for new DA applications is 10 weeks. My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently.

The volume of DA applications received to date in 2023 has increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2022. However, I wish to reassure the Deputy that claim processing is kept under active review, with all possible steps taken to improve processing times. This includes the assignment of additional resources, where available, and the review of business processes, to ensure the efficient processing of applications.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.