Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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141. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will act to ensure that there will be no unnecessary reviews undertaken of payments to people with acute disabilities or of payments to people aged over 80; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21696/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a commitment to an annual level of control reviews and operates an ongoing continuous schedule of control and review activity for scheme recipients, including those in receipt of disability or pension payments. The objective is to ensure that customers continue to receive their correct rate of payment over the lifetime of their claim. Reviews can arise from customer requests for a review of their claim, from targeted and random case selections, or where specific information comes to the attention of the Department. Factors such as length of time since last review, or where information is received from other agencies such as the Revenue Commissioners, or from members of the public, can also trigger control reviews.On review, claimants on a means-tested payment may have their weekly payment rate unchanged or adjusted upwards or downwards as appropriate, based on their up-to-date means assessment. People on disability-related schemes may also have their claim reviewed to ensure they continue meet the qualifying medical criteria for the scheme. However, where a Department Medical Assessor is of the opinion that no further review is required, no medical control review will be undertaken. Information letters or MyWelfare notifications are regularly issued from the State Pension Non-Contributory and Disability Allowance sections of my Department to a proportion of recipients, on a rolling basis, to remind them of the conditions for continuing receipt of their payment and their obligation to notify the Department of changes in their circumstances in a timely manner.My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that reviews are processed quickly and efficiently. Each decision made following a review is open to a review and/or an appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals office.I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.