Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is dead right. This is my responsibility and I can answer the question. The target we set for carer's allowance applications from beginning to end is 15 weeks. We are turning around applications in 14 weeks. There are a number of reasons for the length of time it takes, mostly because of medical complications, the complexities of the application and how it must be reviewed by our medical practitioners and team of assessors. Nobody has to wait four months if they are in need of a payment because every Intreo office has an exceptional needs officer to look after people in time of need. If anybody is at risk of poverty or of being unable to look after themselves on a weekly basis arising from caring for a loved one, all they have to do is contact us and we will look after them, as is our job.

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