Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. On a number of occasions in the Seanad, I have referred to the high level of unemployment nationally, particularly in my county, Donegal. County Donegal had been experiencing a recession for many decades before the national recession. Donegal had the highest level of unemployment, at approximately 18%, which was three or four times above the national average. In the past year, there has been a considerable increase in the number of people made redundant in Donegal. There has been a 58% increase in the past year alone. This represents an increase of almost 5,000 people, from 8,321 to 13,145. In Donegal, 100 people are losing their jobs every week. This figure is based on the last census but, since that census was carried out, companies have been closing down for Christmas and are not sure whether they will reopen. The council has announced there are to be 238 redundancies among council staff. This leads to one big problem, that is, access to social welfare payments in the county.

There is no way that the social welfare service that has been in place until recently, which service was adequate and could issue benefits to those in need of them in reasonable time, can deal with the increase in demand. Some 5,000 people have lost their jobs over the space of a year and, therefore, some adjustments are required. The crisis point was when the social welfare office in Letterkenny had to close its doors to the public so its staff could catch up on some work. There needs to be a redeployment of staff to the Donegal area.

A number of social welfare offices are under serious pressure. The Minister of Social and Family Affairs answered a parliamentary question stating the average waiting time in Letterkenny is five and a half weeks and that in Buncrana it is three and a half weeks, but the reality on the ground is somewhat different. I do not dispute the average figures but they are only averages. I spoke to someone last week who has been waiting for a social welfare payment for seven weeks. He has been unemployed for the past 12 weeks and, for whatever reason, it took him five weeks to claim his benefit. He has had no support for 12 weeks from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. That is unsustainable. When one loses one's job, the bills do not stop coming in and the mortgage payments must still be made. There needs to be a mechanism to deal with the problem more efficiently and effectively.

It is not just a question of those who have become unemployed and who need to avail of the social welfare service to receive their payments, we must also consider the staff in the social welfare offices, who are under considerable pressure. The 5,000 additional people who have become unemployed and those who may become unemployed in Donegal next week have sustained our economy in the good times. They built the economy and contributed to the Celtic tiger. It is very disrespectful to them that their social welfare entitlements are not forthcoming in a speedy manner and that they have to wait so long.

Four new positions are to be created in the social welfare offices in the Donegal region. I am not an expert but my feeling is that, with 5,000 additional people availing of the social welfare service — this week we heard of 238 job losses in the county council and of a factory in trouble — four people will not be able to deal with the demand. I ask the Minister to consider this case compassionately. Although the wage bill would be increased by employing extra staff in the social welfare offices, doing so would be the correct and respectful approach given that social welfare recipients need their money most in the run-up to Christmas.

I am sure the Minister will be well aware that a company in Donegal has let its staff go for the month of December. The workers are very concerned about whether they will receive any entitlements from the social welfare office by Christmas. We are all human and want to buy presents for our children, parents, wives and husbands. It is not right that the workers should be concerned. They are entitled to their payments, which will be back-dated at some stage. While I understand we are living in unique times, we need to pull out all the stops to address this matter.

One person entitled to community welfare support showed me his cheque last week and it amounted to €28. I asked another person about his payment but he said he was not entitled to it due to anomalies associated with the requirement to work for 32 hours. I will not elaborate on that because it is another matter. The matter in question is that staff are required in counties such as Donegal, which has experienced a considerable increase in the number signing on, such that those entitled to social welfare supports can avail of them.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. Unemployment supports for people who have lost their jobs, namely, the jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit, are administered in County Donegal from local offices located in Letterkenny, Buncrana, Dunfanaghy, Dungloe and Donegal town, in addition to branch offices under contract to the Department in Donegal town, Ballybofey, Ballyshannon and Killybegs.

The number of people on the live register in Donegal has increased by 62% in the past year, leading to a similar increase in the claims being received for jobseeker's assistance and jobseeker's benefit payments. A total of 11,495 such claims were received in the Donegal local and branch offices in the first ten months of 2007. This compares with 17,820 claims in the first ten months of 2008.

In addition to dealing with jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit payments, the Department's local and branch offices in Donegal deal with supports for farmers under the farm assistance allowance scheme, supports for those seeking to resume employment or return to full-time education under the back-to-work and back-to-education allowance schemes and supports for lone parents under the one-parent family payment scheme.

Despite the significant increase in the numbers claiming jobseeker's allowance and benefit, and the intake of claims for the other supports, every effort is being made to ensure that claims are processed and paid, where due, as speedily as possible. On average, 62% of jobseeker's allowance claims and 80% of jobseeker's benefit claims are being processed within two weeks of application.

While every effort is made to process claims speedily, delays sometimes arise where investigations into qualifying conditions, such as means in the case of jobseeker's allowance, or social insurance contributions in the case of jobseeker's benefit, are required. Delays can also occur where applicants are required to supply information or documentation from employers or other sources. Recognising the difficulty such delays can cause for those who require these supports when becoming unemployed, every effort is made to assist applicants in the completion of application forms, in their interviews with local inspectors and in obtaining all necessary documentation in support of their applications. Delays are usually experienced only in cases in which essential information or documentation is outstanding.

The Department reviews its business processes on an ongoing basis to ensure streamlined service delivery in these times of increasing demand for unemployment supports. Initiatives in this respect include the fast-tracking of straightforward cases, a speedier decision mechanism in local offices in cases where the claim form indicates further investigation by an inspector or the local office is unwarranted and interim decisions on claims in respect of which certain outstanding documentation is not considered critical. A proactive approach to dealing with new applications for jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit is also undertaken in circumstances where it is known when a company plans to lay off staff. In such circumstances, officials from the Department's local offices may visit the company and advise on the completion of the application forms, or the company may supply a list of those to be laid off, stating the date from which this will occur. The local office will then commence work immediately on these cases. This year, additional staffing resources have been allocated to the local office network to deal with jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit claims and it is planned to allocate further resources over the coming months.

A delay of up to two months in the payment of an entitlement to an unemployment support would be exceptional in County Donegal. However, all applicants for these payments are entitled to make a claim for supplementary welfare allowance at the local Health Service Executive, HSE, centre pending the outcome of investigations, supply of supporting documentation and a decision on the claim.

Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. The information I have is that four new positions will be made available to County Donegal. I do not think that will go far enough but perhaps the Department has made an assessment that this number is what is required. I believe more positions are needed. What strikes me is that information is not included in the response. Does the Minister have any further information about those four positions? Will they be deployed to County Donegal?

The Minister said that a delay of up to two months in payment is exceptional in County Donegal. Does he recognise that the average waiting time in Letterkenny is five and a half weeks? That is the average wait for everyone availing of social welfare payments in the Letterkenny area and is not exceptional. I am sure the Minister is aware that one of the problems is that after waiting five and a half weeks or, in the case of those people who are on the other side of the average, six, seven or eight weeks, the applicants do not get all their entitlement. They get their weekly allowance and the other weeks' payments are posted to them at a later date. Even when the application is processed and they get their first payment, it is only one week's due. That is a significant problem.

The Minister corrected my figures which were wrong in the context of the level of unemployment. I should have said 62%. Something must be done. Perhaps the Minister might bring the issue back to the Department to find out if these positions are to be moved into County Donegal. If that is the case, they should be moved as soon as possible in order that some of the backlog could be addressed in the run-up to Christmas.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have any additional information. If I had, I would make it available to the Senator. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, will communicate with him. It is quite clear from the reply that more resources need to be and are being invested. I am not sure where the figure of four, referred to by Senator Doherty, fits in but the Department will be able to clarify this for him. I have no doubt, as a former Minister in this Department, that there is a good work ethic and commitment to try to resolve this issue for people who desperately need assistance, especially when they have lost their jobs. As the Senator rightly pointed out, we are now coming into the Christmas season and I am sure that the Department will try to do everything to facilitate those outstanding matters.