Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1179: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will instruct his Department's officials to ensure that when applications are submitted by public representatives on behalf of constituents to his Department that the public representatives are informed when a decision is made on the relevant claim as a matter of courtesy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2365/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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When a claim for social welfare benefit or pension is received by my Department, whether, directly from a claimant as in the normal practice or, alternatively, from somebody acting on their behalf, any enquiries in connection with the claim would be made directly with the claimant. Enquiries or representations from public representatives on behalf of constituents are acknowledged but when the claim has been decided, the practice is for the outcome to be notified to the customer. Where a public representative requests to be notified of the outcome, that representative is also, in the normal course, informed. Because of the volume of claims and the level of complexity which may be involved, a requirement to notify public representatives in all cases would add an additional layer of work and draw resources from claim processing. Enquiries or representations from public representatives in relation to individual claims are dealt with as promptly as possible. Having regard to operational requirements in the different scheme areas in my Department, I am satisfied that the current arrangements are working satisfactorily.