Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

The average figures are fine. I have to acknowledge the progress that has been made in that regard. Difficulties continue to exist in certain areas, however. Can the Minister tell us what the longest waiting time for the payment of jobseeker's allowance is? The main problems seem to be in the branch offices, rather than the local offices. I do not know if the Minister agrees. Has he considered devising a particular strategy to deal with the branch offices? Now that additional staff have been taken on, can the Minister tell us whether he believes the full complement of staff has been reached? Is he looking for additional staff? There is a concern that the diversion of staff into the processing of claims means the Department is not as active as it should be in terms of fraud detection.

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