The Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance states that it has no policy for termination of disability benefits.
The Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Security has recently
1. For former recipients of public assistance approved for receiving a disability allowance by the Social Welfare Services, before the enactment of the new legislation on the Minimum Guaranteed Income, by law, it is required to carry out, for the first time, a disability assessment and certification through the Disability Assessment System. This is not a re-evaluation since for the first time the disability is evaluated by committees of experts.
2. A decision has been taken to avoid any inconvenience to persons with disabilities and in cases where the medical and other certificates provided clearly document permanent and irreversible disability situations, as deemed appropriate by the experts, then the assessment will not require physical presence of the person at the Disability Assessment Centers, but the relevant certificates will be examined by the Medical Council.
3. The Ministry does not have a policy for termination of benefits, on the contrary, according to the data published in the annual budgets, the total expenditure on social benefits for people with disabilities for both the purposes of the Welfare Benefit Management Service (EUS + disability benefits) as well as the Department of Social Integration of People with Disabilities is increasing every year significantly. Specifically, more than 15,000 people with disabilities in Cyprus are supported by social benefits of the Ministry amounting to € 85 million per year.
4. The disability assessment has two purposes: on the one hand to certify the disability status of the individual and the fulfillment of the required disability criteria of the laws and regulations governing the various social benefits and services and on the other hand, to inform the individual and his family about the rights in social benefits and services. In many cases, citizens are not aware of their rights and after the evaluation are informed about the available services and benefits to which they are entitled, in order to have the opportunity for maximum possible social inclusion.
Citizens are invited to cooperate with the competent Services, to present the required certificates and to have confidence that the Ministry treats them with objectivity, equality and justice and does not bother them unnecessarily. For any question, if they do not find an immediate telephone response due to the heavy workload of the Services, please contact us by e-mail, depending on:
– At the Welfare Allowance Management Service, at [email protected]
– At the Department of Social Integration of People with Disabilities, at [email protected]
