I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, to the Seanad.

I thank the Minister of State for attending today. I raise this matter because I have encountered its real-life impact. The issue concerns the application process timeframe for the partial capacity benefit. This scheme allows people to return to work if they have reduced capacity while continuing to receive support from the Department of Social Protection. The Department sets out that people must apply for partial capacity benefit before they start work, or within 21 days of starting work. This creates a scenario that can affect a person who returns to work after illness with the intention of resuming full-time work, only to find out that they do not have the capacity to do so. By this time, the 21-day window has elapsed and they are unable to access partial capacity benefit, despite being unable to work full-time. They are left working reduced hours with a lower income and without that additional support.

Because the partial capacity benefit payment is lower than full illness benefit or invalidity pension, and because income may also be lower, the individual faces a double hit of reduced hours and missing benefit support. A submission by the Citizens Information Board in 2015 described cases where people were worse off returning to work through the partial capacity benefit scheme than they would be remaining on the social welfare payment.

The rigid timeframe and the risk of losing other payments before they even know their capacity means people may delay returning to work, may continue claiming benefits when they might wish to work, or may accept reduced hours without any support. This is a poor outcome for individuals, employers and the economy. I ask the Minister of State to engage with the Department to undertake a review of the partial capacity benefit application timeframe and process. First, the application deadline should be extended to recognise that an individual's capacity to work may change after they return to work, rather than solely before. Second, a transitional window should be introduced to allow applications after the person realises their reduced capacity and moves to reduced hours without penalty for missing that initial 21-day window. Third, information and guidance should be improved in order to ensure people returning to work are aware of their partial capacity benefit rights, of the deadlines and of the implications for earnings and benefits. Social protection schemes must be responsive to real-life trajectories of illness, recovery and returning to work. The current partial capacity benefit application timeframe places unnecessary risk and undermines the very objective of the scheme, which is to support people who can work some hours but not full time.

I thank Senator Costello for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary.

Partial capacity benefit is a social welfare scheme that is open to people who are in receipt of invalidity pension or illness benefit for more than six months, and who have a reduced work capacity. The scheme allows them to work or return to employment or self-employment while retaining a portion of their previous payment. The personal rate of payment of partial capacity benefit is based on a medical assessment of a person's restriction regarding their capacity for work. After the medical assessment, if a person's disability is rated as moderate, severe or profound, their payment continues at 50%, 75% or 100% percent of their existing rate, respectively. If a person's disability is rated as mild, they will not be entitled to partial capacity benefit.

There are no restrictions on earnings from employment or the number of hours worked under the partial capacity benefit scheme. There is, however, a requirement under legislation that people must claim their entitlement within a specific period from the date on which the entitlement arises. In the case of partial capacity benefit, this is set out in section 241(2)(ba) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, which sets out the position "where the claim is made before the person commences employment, in respect of any period more than 13 weeks before such commencement" or "where the claim is made after the person commences employment, in respect of any period more than 3 weeks after such commencement". There is a two-stage application process involved.

The applicant first notifies the Department of their intent to take up employment and applies for partial capacity benefit. The Department will determine whether the applicant is eligible, and if so, at what level the partial capacity benefit will be paid. Once that decision is made, the applicant must then confirm that they wish to proceed on that basis and confirm the date their employment is commencing. The partial capacity benefit team will then put the relevant payment in place. The purpose of this is to allow a person to make a claim for partial capacity benefit in advance of the intended date of commencement of employment. It is also to allow a person to plan and organise their finances and decide if they want to start work.

The three-week window allows for late applications. It enables a person to remain eligible for partial capacity benefit for three weeks after they start employment. However, the deciding officers may award partial capacity benefit outside of this application window in exceptional circumstances. An internal audit conducted in 2021 revealed that only one person who had applied for partial capacity benefit was outside this application window. I am pleased to say that the average length of time for the award of the partial capacity benefit claim is now under three weeks, which is well inside the targeted processing times for this support.

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I appreciate the points she made about the three-week timeframe but, as she will have seen from my response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, the review conducted in 2021 shows that there was only one claim outside this window, and they can be looked at on an exceptional basis. If the Senator has any individual cases, I am sure the Minister would be willing to look at them.

Before I call on the Senator, I welcome students from Lucan Community College to the Seanad. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann.

I thank the Minister of State for that answer. I would argue the point about the three-week window. I do not think it is acceptable. People are living with cancer at the moment. Someone with stage 4 cancer could have returned to work six weeks ago and then realise they are exhausted. They would be in active treatment and cannot plan for when fatigue hits and when they cannot work at full capacity. I urge the Minister to look at this. I welcome the timeframes and the timely manner in which claims are being processed. We do need efficiency in such circumstances, including the manner in which exceptional circumstances are dealt with. I think that maybe only one person applied because people are not aware of the benefits of partial capacity and their right to it. That was why I included the information piece in my Commencement matter.

It is an important matter. I am aware of people in my constituency of Waterford who avail of partial capacity benefit. It is there to support people who are looking to return to the work environment even though they have had or continue to have significant challenges. It is an appropriate scheme. I will feed back the points the Senator made about three-week window, but I again stress that the Department will look at any individual case on an exceptional basis. The purpose of it being front-loaded is to try to ensure that constituents have certainty when they re-enter the workforce and that they do so in the full knowledge of what their entitlements are. That is a positive on the front end, but I acknowledge that the Senator is referencing the challenges that could exist on the back end.