David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 187: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the backlog in processing claims for carer's allowance still exists; the number of claims which are awaiting decision; when he expects these claims to be dealt with; the number of claims processed by his Department to date in 2006 and the numbers processed on 2005 and 2004 respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32410/06]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 188: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average amount of time it takes to process a claim for carer's allowance at present and for 2006, 2005 and 2004 respectively; the longest amount of time it has taken his Department to process a carer's allowance claim in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32411/06]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 189: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reasons for delays in processing carer's allowance claims; the efforts his Department has made to address these delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32412/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 187 to 189, inclusive, together.

Entitlement to carer's allowance is based on an applicant satisfying medical, means and residency conditions. In determining entitlement to the allowance there are, in certain cases, unavoidable time lags involved in making the necessary investigations and enquiries to enable timely and accurate decision to be made. Delays can also arise if persons applying for the allowance are not in a position to supply all the necessary information in support of their claim.

Because of these factors, there will always be a certain volume of claims on hands awaiting finalisation and these cannot be regarded as a backlog. Many applicants for carer's allowance are already in receipt of another social welfare payment while their claim is being processed. Such payments will normally continue until entitlement to their carers allowance is determined.

There are currently 2,163 pending cases awaiting a decision, over 40% of which were received within the last eight weeks. The majority of claims currently on hands will be processed within the next ten weeks. The average time for deciding an application for carer's allowance is currently 9.53 weeks, although in many cases they are processed within a far shorter timeframe. The average in 2005 was 8.88 weeks, while the average in 2004 was 12.70 weeks. It is not possible to identify the longest amount of time it has taken to process an individual carer's allowance application in 2006. 7,177 new claims were processed to a final decision in the nine months up to the end of September, compared to a total of 8,793 over the whole of 2005 and 8,196 in 2004.

The volume of claims finalised so far this year represents a 9% increase on the average achieved in 2005 and a 17% increase on the average achieved in 2004. There are 27,000 carer's allowances in payment, compared to 25,000 at the end of 2005 and 23,000 at the end of 2004. The staff and other resources available to my Department must be deployed to ensure good customer service, to prevent fraud and abuse of the schemes and to achieve value for money. My Department is engaged in an ongoing process to ensure that available resources are prioritised to the greatest extent possible on front line service delivery and to ensure that the best possible standard of response is provided across the range of schemes and services. The position will be kept under review to ensure that the best possible customer service is provided.