Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2013
91. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are over 18,000 people awaiting results for reviews within her Department on disability allowances; if this is not the correct figure, if she will provide the correct figure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53314/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that the Deputy is inquiring about the number of successful appeals on disability allowance awaiting processing in the Department. There are currently 260 successful disability allowance appeals awaiting attention all of which were recently received from the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
The Department is currently working hard to eliminate backlogs of new disability allowance applications and to reduce waiting times for new applicants. The higher than average number of new applications being processed has led to a higher than average number of appeals to be processed and, consequently, delays may be experienced by some successful appellants who are awaiting payment. Again, every effort is being made to ensure these temporary delays are kept to an absolute minimum.
