Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. Prior to 2013, expenditure on salaries and wages was €188,000. Ms Higgins referred to people being at the heart and centre of the service. In 2014 expenditure on salaries and wages amounted to €791,000. For that amount, Caranua managed 33,751 calls, of which it only responded to 15,348, less than half the number of calls received. In 2015 expenditure on salaries and wages increased to €1.32 million and the service managed 67,604 calls, but, again, it only responded to half of those calls. Despite a massive increase in expenditure on salaries and wages, the service still could not manage all of the calls received. The figures to which I am referring were provided by Ms Higgins. In 2016 expenditure on salaries and wages increased again to €1.492 million and the service managed 44,582 calls, of which it only responded to 19,776.

Ms Higgins referred in her opening statement to 20 to 30 calls per claimant. Despite increased expenditure by Caranua on salaries and wages - I am not saying the 24 staff are not entitled to salary increases - the service is only managing to respond to fewer than one third of the calls it receives.