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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Nov 1987

Vol. 375 No. 4

Written Answers. - Medical Referees.

20.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of medical referees employed on his Department's panel; and if he will make a statement on the level of abuse that has been detected in this area.

The total number of medical referees personnel serving in my Department is 25 including the medical adviser and the deputy medical adviser.

The medical referee system is the major arm of a range of controls exercised in the administration of disability benefit. This year, up to October, there have been some 80,000 claimants called before medical referees of whom some 16,700 or 21 per cent have been found capable of work and thus no longer entitled to benefit.

Computerised facilities have been introduced to allow a more scientific approach in selecting cases for examination and there is also a significant degree of checking with employers to detect concurrent working and claiming. In this connection, the special investigation unit of the Department's inspection branch are now working in close liaison with the disability benefits branch and it is expected that this type of activity will increase.

As a result of the various control measures the number of disability benefit claims in payment has fallen from 80,448 at the beginning of November 1986 to 77,552 at the beginning of November 1987 and we are on target to achieve savings of some £2 million on the original disability benefit expenditure figures in 1987.

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