Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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260. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average length of time taken to determine entitlement to disability allowance; the extent to which this has fluctuated in each of the past five years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54426/23]

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

Disability Allowance (DA) 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.

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.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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261. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average length of time taken to determine entitlement to invalidity pension; the extent to which this has fluctuated in each of the past five years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54427/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Invalidity Pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and for no other reason and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.

The average processing target for the IP scheme is to award 90% of applications within 10 weeks. The following table outlines the average weeks to award an IP application.

Average Weeks to Award

My Department is committed to ensuring that applications are processed promptly.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.