Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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294. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware that disability allowance recipients are having their allowance revoked based on his Department’s contention that the person can work despite the person’s GP (best placed) categorically stating the person is unable to work; the way in which his Department can ascertain the person can work over the computer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49374/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly payment for people with a specified disability, aged between 16 and 66, where the disability is expected to last at least one year. Entitlement is subject to a medical assessment, a means test, and habitual residence conditions.

The Department’s Medical Assessors are all qualified physicians with backgrounds in areas such as General Practice, Rheumatology and Psychiatry, and are trained in disability assessment.

When an application is made, all medical evidence submitted, including the applicant’s GP, hospital consultant, or other treating health professional reports, together with the applicant’s own account of the impact of their condition, is reviewed by the Medical Assessor. The assessment focuses on the functional impact of the condition on the person’s capacity for work rather than on the diagnosis itself.

Relevant factors taken into account include the severity and prognosis of the condition, its expected duration and planned interventions, along with the applicant’s description of how their condition affects their daily life. Based on this, the Medical Assessor forms an independent clinical opinion, exercising objective judgement in line with the statutory qualifying conditions for Disability Allowance.

It is important to note that the Department does not dispute the medical diagnosis provided by a person’s own doctor but, rather, considers all available medical evidence to determine how the condition affects capacity for work.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.