Disability group calls for progress on allowance refusal

The Disability Federation of Ireland says it hopes to “progress” talks with the Department of Social Protection on the issue of the high rate of refusal on applications for the disability allowance.

Figures provided by the department show that of the 27,608 disability allowance eligibility decisions made last year, 13,732 applications were turned down on the basis that they did not satisfy the qualifying criteria on initial assessment.

That refusal rate actually decreased slightly compared to the equivalent figure for 2013, but the figures also indicate that more than half of all refusals that are then appealed are subsequently granted.

According to the department, of the 5,970 disability allowance appeals decided on last year, 3,860 were granted while 100 were partially allowed.

As of the end of November, there was 111,552 recipients of the disability allowance, while 81 disability allowance payments were terminated in 2014 following a medical review.

The Disability Federation had previously queried if there was a “culture of refusal” within the department regarding the disability allowance. Joan O’Donnell, policy worker with the organisation, said: “It is very difficult to argue with the stark figures which show it is exceedingly difficult to get disability allowance.

“This causes huge stress to people and their families, who are struggling.”

The Disability Federation said it had been in discussions with the department over the past year in relation to the application process for the payment and the rate of refusal.

Ms O’Donnell said while the payment was granted on the basis of capacity to work rather than level of disability, it was still a “contingency payment” that did not take into account the extra costs accrued by people living with a disability. “We are hoping to make some serious progress on this issue in the first quarter of this year,” she said of the dialogue with the department.

The disability allowance is a weekly allowance paid to people with a disability who are between 16 and 65 years of age. A means-tested payment, eligibility can be affected by a number of factors including the income of a spouse or cohabiting partner and a medical assessment.

Last October, a teenage boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder brought a High Court challenge against the Department of Social Protection after it had refused to grant him the payment.

The Disability Federation and other groups have argued that statistically, people with a disability are twice as likely to live below the poverty line and also find it more difficult to access employment, while some other supports have been affected by budget cuts in recent years.