Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason for the delay in processing applications in respect of jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit; the reason there are variations in processing times across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36035/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is committed to providing a high quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply.

These conditions vary between the two jobseeker schemes and involve, among other things, the need to establish the person's social insurance record, establish the person's identity or place of habitual residence and the assessment of means where appropriate. In some cases delays arise where people fail to supply all pertinent information in support of their application.

The level of inflows to the live register over the period January to September 2008, inclusive, was 311,660 as compared to 220,652 over the corresponding period last year, representing an increase of over 41%. The average weekly inflow was 7,991 as compared to 5,658 in 2007. At 5 October 2008, there were 39,133 jobseeker payment claims pending in local and branch offices, made up of 16,857 jobseeker benefit and 22,276 jobseeker allowance claims. The average processing time for applications in September was three weeks for jobseeker's benefit claims and six weeks for jobseeker's allowance claims.

The Deputy will be aware that anyone who is under financial pressure while awaiting a decision on their claim for a jobseeker's payment can apply for supplementary welfare allowance which is subject to a means test and other qualifying conditions. The Department delivers a frontline service through a network of 61 local offices and 65 branch offices countrywide. Local offices are staffed by civil servants while the branch offices operate under a contract for service. All decisions on claims are made in the local office. The overall performance in any individual office in processing claims can be adversely affected by a wide variety of factors, including increased inflow of claims, staff vacancies and the duration of such vacancies, and the turnover of staff in the office.

The Department has put a range of measures in place to deal with the extra workload arising from the increase in the live register. These include additional posts assigned, use of temporary staff to fill vacancies pending the appointment of permanent staff, the extension of temporary staff contracts in certain offices, increased overtime and the prioritisation of work. These measures are being reviewed on a continual basis.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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It is clear the measures being taken are not working because the figures the Minister gave me for October more or less correlate to the figures I have for September. Therefore the measures taken are not decreasing the queues. The Minister said failure to supply all pertinent information can be one of the reasons for the difficulties. Are the people of Galway or Navan particularly incapable of filling in the forms compared to those in other places where there is only a three to six-week delay, depending on the application? There is almost a four-month delay for those applying through the office in Galway. How does the Minister intend to deal with this?

Is the Minister aware that unemployment is at its highest in a decade, a decade in which her party has been in power? It is expected there will be 60,000 more people on the live register next year. In view of the four-month delay in some offices, how will the system cope when there are 60,000 more applications?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The people who were being assessed in September are not necessarily the people being assessed in October.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister has made no improvement in the situation.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Obviously, there would be a throughput of new people. I agree with the Deputy there are unacceptable delays in some offices. Those offices are being examined by the Department with a view to establishing what additional staffing, overtime or temporary staff are required. A high level review of staffing generally is being finalised and should conclude next week. Additional posts have been allocated and there is an increase over this period last year in the number of people working in this service.

I am conscious of the fact that any delay can be difficult for the applicant. There is a six-week average processing time for the jobseeker's allowance because it requires a much more in-depth review of people's financial circumstances and a three-week average time for the jobseeker's benefit.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Hanafin is the Minister and if the delay is unacceptable, it means she is not doing her job and ensuring it is dealt with. Does she realise that not getting jobseeker's allowance or benefit pushes families into an almost inescapable poverty trap? They fall behind with ESB, gas and telephone payments. They also fall behind with mortgage repayments, car loans and credit union loans. They are stuck in that cycle. They can go cap in hand and look for a supplementary welfare allowance, but they want the proper allowance and it is up to the Minister to ensure they can get it within an acceptable timeframe.

The budgetary changes announced by the Minister last week will lead to even more bureaucracy within the social welfare system. When will we see an acceptable timeframe in which these services will be delivered?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I do not envisage the budgetary changes will put an added burden on any of the administrative measures that need to be taken.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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It will put a burden on the people involved.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Staffing is a matter for the Department and the Secretary General, and that is the reason the high level review is being undertaken.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Minister, not the Secretary General, is in charge of the Department.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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No Minister determines how many people go to a particular office or who those people are. It is interesting to hear on the one hand that people are looking for a cutback in the number of people working in the Civil Service or public service but on the other they want to see more staff allocated.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I never said that, I said I wanted to see an improvement in respect of the timeframe.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are 1,343 people working actively on this. There is huge pressure on staff in many offices. We recognise that and that is the reason we have taken the measures of allocating extra people, providing overtime and putting in temporary staff. This is being kept under constant review, particularly in the offices where there is a particular delay. I repeat, nobody need be destitute or in poverty. People can go to the social welfare officer for supplementary assistance.