Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Regarding chapter 14, which is on customer service and the development of income support application forms, I am sure that Mr. McKeon will appreciate how much time is spent in a Deputy's constituency office helping constituents fill out the myriad of forms from the 86 schemes that his Department operates. We often contact the Department's various sub-offices. Will Mr. McKeon speak about the efforts to simplify the forms, given that their sheer size can be frightening for many people? Figure 14.4 in the chapter lists the sizes. The disability allowance form is 36 pages long and the carer's allowance form is 36 pages long.

The form for the non-contributory pension is 20 pages long while the form for child benefit is 16 pages long. The forms for these payments are extremely lengthy. I appreciate that it can involve medical reports but are any efforts being made to try to reduce the length of those forms? It is extremely frightening for somebody to receive a 36-page application form for disability allowance or carer's allowance.