Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 March 2022
129. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection when assessing if a person is permanently incapable of work for the purpose of an application for invalidity pension, if due regard is had for the age, experience and qualifications of the applicant when making a final decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15385/22]
View answerInvalidity Pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and for no other reason and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions.
A person is regarded as being permanently incapable of work if;
For the period of 1 year immediately before the date of application the person had been continuously incapable of work and a Deciding Officer (DO) or an Appeals Officer (AO) is satisfied that the person is likely to continue to be incapable of work for at least another year,
OR
A Deciding Officer (DO) or an Appeals Officer (AO) is satisfied that the likelihood is that the person will be incapable of work for life.
When making a decision Deciding Officers 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 IP, which include a medical qualifying condition.
When assessing an Invalidity Pension claim, an MA assesses the work capacity of the claimant for all categories of work in terms of job effort and skill level. In the assessment, the MA will consider the claimant’s impairment i.e. the illness or accident and the symptoms, investigations, treatment received to date and the prognoses of the condition(s). The MA will also consider any co-morbidity, in addition to their primary medical condition.
Where an MA provides an opinion, the DO shall have regard to that opinion in deciding if the person is permanently incapable of work. 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 IP.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
