Social benefits: Ombudsman calls for quick resolution of “application constraints” that hinder attribution

The Ombudsman sent letters to the Presidents of the Governing Councils of the Instituto da Segurança Social and of the Instituto de Informática where Maria Lúcia Amaral draws attention to the urgent need to establish articulation mechanisms in order to solve the “application constraints” that, according to the social security services, will be at the base of several problems in the attribution of different social benefits.

In these letters, it is drawn particular attention to the high number of complaints made by young students who contest the suspension and / or the allocation of less than the due amount of survivors’ pensions, which can compromise the continuity of studies, which was the consequence in a case exposed to the Ombudsman.

Maria Lúcia Amaral asks for swift and effective procedures to be adopted in order to resolve the aforementioned computer constraints, ensuring compliance with the principles of the primacy of public responsibility, effectiveness and good administration and management of the public social security system.