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

The average waiting time until the end of last year was 19 weeks, which is wholly unacceptable, but it is currently 15 weeks. Although that does not meet the 12-week target we have set in the Department, it is moving in the right direction, for two reasons. The first is we have changed the application form to try to make it less onerous and to allow us gather more information. There are two aspects to a carer's allowance application, namely, the means test and the medical assessment.

The second reason is we have added more staff to the area. As other staff become available, such as those working on our illness benefit transition and the 2012 pension anomaly restorations, they will be moved to address the issue. I hope that will continue to reduce the waiting time to the 12-week target.

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