Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount in extra overtime spent in 2008 and in 2009 to deal with the backlog in processing jobseeker claims. [9268/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Overtime in Local Offices is used for many purposes including providing cover for staff absences, for dealing with large blocks of work which arise on an occasional or seasonal basis and for dealing with backlogs.

In 2008 a sum of €1,050,000 was allocated for overtime in the Departments 8 regions which manage the local office network. This allocation was increased during the course of the year, however, and the overall expenditure in the regions in 2008 was €1.739m.

It is not possible to say what expenditure was incurred exclusively in the processing of jobseeker claims. However during the past year the vast majority of overtime would have been used for this purpose.

The overtime allocation for 2009 is €1,700,000 and this budget will be reviewed as the need arises.