Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 415: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when a decision will be made on the application made for rent allowance by a person (details supplied) in County Cork. [41008/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, which is administered on behalf of the Department by the Community Welfare Division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of rent supplement to eligible people whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs.

The Executive has advised that the person concerned contacted the community welfare officer in August and was advised to complete and return an application form so that his entitlement to rent supplement could be assessed. The Executive has further advised that it has no record of receiving the application for rent supplement from the person concerned.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 416: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average processing time that it takes for a claim for jobseeker's allowance to be dealt with; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41048/08]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 417: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the average processing time that it takes for a claim for jobseeker's benefit to be dealt with; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41049/08]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 418: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the processing time that it takes for each individual social welfare office to deal with a claim for jobseeker's benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41050/08]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 419: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the processing time that it takes for each individual social welfare office to deal with a claim for jobseeker's allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41051/08]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 420: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the numbers of individuals on a national basis and by local social welfare office awaiting for their application for jobseeker's benefit to be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41052/08]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 421: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the numbers of individuals on a national basis and by local social welfare office awaiting for their application for jobseeker's allowance to be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41053/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 416 to 421, inclusive, together.

The Department delivers a front-line service through a network of 61 Local Offices and 64 Branch Offices countrywide. The main services provided from these offices include jobseekers payment, one-parent family payment and an information service. Branch Offices are operated under a contract for service and decisions on claims taken in Branch Offices are made in its departmental parent Local Office.

There has been a significant increase in the number of people claiming since the beginning of the year. The level of inflows to the Live Register over the period January to October 2008 inclusive was 361,940 as compared with 243,413 over the corresponding period last year representing an increase of over 49%.

In the past few years the Department has coped with increasing demands arising from significant changes to the social welfare code and in the numbers of persons accessing services. Operational procedures and the organisation of work continue to be reviewed and restructured to maximise the benefits of technology and new developments in processing techniques and business information.

The Department is committed to providing a quality customer 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 their place of habitual residence and to assess means where appropriate. In some cases delays arise where the person fails to supply all pertinent information in support of his/her application.

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 number of claims awaiting a decision is given in Table 1.

Because of the increased number of claims for jobseeker payments the Department undertook a review of staffing levels in Local Offices in May and June of this year. This resulted in the assignment of an additional 31 staff to some 15 Local Offices. Following on the most recent review of the staffing levels in Local Offices, an additional 115 staff are to be assigned to some 48 offices.

For claims processed in October 2008 the average processing time was 3 weeks for Jobseekers Benefit and 5 weeks for Jobseekers Allowance. The average processing time in October in each office is given in Table 2.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 422: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons receiving farm assist for each of the past five years on a county basis; the number in receipt of same at the present time; if she has satisfied himself that her Department is taking sufficient action to encourage people to apply; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41054/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There has been a steady decline in uptake of the farm assist scheme. This is due to the significant increase in off-farm employment in recent years and the take up of the Rural Social Scheme which is operated by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and which also specifically targets low-income farmers.

The Department's information policy is to ensure that all citizens are made aware of their entitlements and that they are kept informed of changes and improvements in schemes and services as they occur. Information on farm assist is provided through the normal channels including information leaflets and guides and through the Department network of local and branch offices. Each Local Office has officers who are dedicated to providing information and are available to explain supports and services to people. This locally based service is supported by a central Information Unit which operates a LoCall information line (1890 66 22 44) which customers may call for information and guidance on their entitlements.

Staff also attend exhibitions and seminars throughout the country promoting information on social welfare rights and entitlements. A stand was provided at the Ploughing Championships in Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny in September giving information on all schemes and services including Farm Assist.

In addition, information on all our schemes and services is available on the Department's website, www.welfare.ie.

The Citizens Information Board, which comes under the aegis of the Department, also provides information through approximately 260 Citizen Information Centres and other outlets around the country, through a phone service which operates from 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday, and the website www.citizensinformation.ie.

Farm assist has brought about significant worthwhile improvements for low income farmers, particularly for those with children, making a valuable contribution to supporting those who are at the lower end of the farm income spectrum. The Department will continue to promote and publicise the scheme in order to achieve and maintain maximum take up.

A table for the numbers of persons receiving Farm Assist for each of the past 5 years and at present on a county basis is set out below: