Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his very important question. I am very well aware of the important work carers do. I am also very conscious of the need to have applications for carer's allowance, CA, and domiciliary care allowance, DCA, processed as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there are delays in the processing of these applications. Both schemes have seen a considerable increase in applications in recent years. Applications for DCA in 2015 were 33% higher than in 2013. Applications for carer's allowance in 2015 were 25% higher than in 2013. These increases, together with the need to introduce new revised decision-making processes in early 2014, to demonstrate compliance with a High Court decision, have impacted on the volumes of applications processed within the set target.

Reducing these waiting times is a priority for the Department and we are working very hard to make this happen. As part of its programme of service delivery modernisation, a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology, have been implemented by the Department in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure processing capability is maximised.

In addition, staffing needs are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure the best use is made of all available resources. Where additional staffing is deployed to a scheme, such as has happened for carer's allowance, there is a time lag involved while those staff are trained and build up expertise. The Department expects the current delays to be significantly reduced in the next few months, as recently assigned staff get up to speed with the work involved in claim processing.

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