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

I accept the Deputy's point on the vulnerable people and we need to resolve and address that. A number of difficulties arose with the changeover to a new system. These included people not receiving payments or receiving split or irregular payments. A large number of queries led to long delays in call answering. Up to 20% of those in receipt of illness benefit were impacted upon. However, we are gradually getting back to normal payments.

The Deputy is right that we need to ensure we fix the problems. We have taken three steps: additional staff to process the claims and answer customer queries; we have developed some IT routines that can further automate the process to ensure a faster flow through to payment; and review the design rules in the system to afford greater flexibility in processing the claims and certificates. In addition, the Department continues to engage with local professionals regarding the implementation of the new process.

If problems are fixed, why are some people not being paid, being paid more or less than expected, or still due arrears? There has been an increase in claims for illness benefit in January. This trend reflects the annual increase at this time of year due to seasonal illnesses. There are delayed payments, extra payments and payments less than expected. On delayed payments, overall payment levels in respect of illness benefit are now normal. On the extra payments, delays in processing have meant that some customer claims which should be closed were open longer than should have been. As a result of the fact that we have not received final medical certificates, they have to receive an extra payment. This is also the case under the legacy system. In addition, the process of certification in 2018 which ensured that people got paid and also paid people who had not submitted a final certificate resulted in some extra payments to users. I take the Deputy's point and will bring his concerns back to the Minister.

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