Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
374. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 630 of 16 April 2013, the maximum time an applicant for invalidity pension is currently waiting to have their application process concluded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18751/13]
View answerThere is no backlog of new invalidity pension claims. All new invalidity pension claims are processed on receipt and a decision issues as soon as all relevant information is available. At end of March 2013 there were 2,627 invalidity pension claims pending decision all of which have been actioned by a deciding officer. Some 660 of these invalidity pension cases are EU/Bilateral cases which are awaiting information from another country or EU state and these take considerably longer than domestic cases to finalise. In addition, claimants who following a negative decision on their claim, exercise their right of review and/or appeal can take significantly longer to process. The processing time for individual claims can vary depending on the complexity of the claimant’s circumstances and the information they provide in support. In many cases, further information is required in order to make a decision, for example, a medical assessment, information from the claimant themselves or a report from a social welfare inspector on outstanding PRSI contributions or other issues.
