Vol. 457 No. 7
270 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) in County Meath has been called to a medical referee regarding disability benefit before her medical assessment and before the normal recovery period for a hysterectomy operation had passed. [16401/95]
The person concerned claimed disability benefit on 6 September 1995. The first certificate received did not refer to a hysterectomy. The cause of incapacity on that medical certificate was not such as would be considered incapacitating in the long-term and she was referred in the normal way for examination by a medical referee.
Subsequent medical certificates indicated that she had undergone a hysterectomy operation and this should have led to a deferral of the medical referee examination. However, the initial referral was inadvertently allowed to stand and the person concerned was called for an examination earlier than was appropriate in the circumstances. My Department regrets the inconvenience caused to the person concerned.
