Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 May 2023
438. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are operational guidelines for medical assessors and social welfare inspections to allow for assessment of applications for disability allowance with a view to rehabilitation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22410/23]
View answerDisability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions.
When making a decision, Deciding Officers (DO) are bound by the Social Welfare Acts and Regulations. This legislation includes provision for the DO to seek the opinion of a Medical Assessor (MA) in respect of whether or not a person satisfies the medical conditions for schemes such as DA. MAs are fully qualified medical practitioners with several years of experience in a variety of medical fields. Their opinions are informed by medical experience and clinical judgement.
Where an MA provides an opinion, the DO shall have regard to that opinion in deciding if the person is incapable of work. Each application is decided on its own merits. Both the MA and the DO take into account the vocational and educational experience of the claimant as well as their age and medical conditions when deciding if sufficient evidence has been provided to satisfy the qualifying criteria for DA.
A MA has no further role in the rehabilitation of a DA recipient. However, recognising that all work is rehabilitative, the DA scheme is structured to encourage recipients to avail of opportunities to engage in either insurable employment or self-employment. When an individual engages in work, they can avail of an income disregard of 100% of the first €165 earned per week. 50% of earnings between €165 and €375 are also disregarded for the purpose of the means test. Any amounts over €375 are assessed in full. This disregard is available to all DA recipients who engage in employment and there are no restrictions on the hours worked each week.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
