Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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1407.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps it is intended to take regarding the extent of the backlog in processing disability allowance claims. [33592/24]

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

The target processing time for the Disability Allowance (DA) Scheme is to process 75% of applications within 10 weeks. The average number of weeks to process a Disability Allowance claim is currently 7 weeks. My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently.

In respect of 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.

To help the Department to make timely and fair decisions on applications, applicants should ensure that they complete the application form fully and attach all the supporting documentation required as per the checklist provided on the application form. It is particularly important that an applicant provides, at the outset, all the details they have in relation to their medical conditions to best support their claim.

It is at times necessary to refer a claim to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) for a report on means and circumstances and this can lead to a longer processing time.

In order to register a claim and establish an early entitlement or claim date, many people submit an application without first securing all of the necessary supporting documentation. Claims with missing supporting information typically take longer to process.

It is important to note that about 80% of awarded DA applicants are already in receipt of another social welfare payment meaning that any processing time does not affect their income. People who are not in receipt of another payment can be prioritised for processing or can be awarded an interim payment via the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme. Where a claim is awarded, DA arrears will issue to the customer dated back to the date their claim was received.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.