Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 375: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the long queues, including queues onto the street for a number of hours, at a social welfare office (details supplied) in County Offaly; when and the way she will address same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28704/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Live Register at the office concerned has increased by 76% over the last twelve months as a result of the economic downturn. Accordingly there are now larger volumes of people, both making claims for the first time and also signing on the Live Register.

Applicants for Jobseeker's Benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance at the office concerned sign on the Live Register once a month. Signing of Jobseeker's Benefit applicants is currently carried out on two days each month, Wednesday and Thursday of the same week. Signing of Jobseeker's Allowance applicants is currently only carried out on one day each month.

Queues at the office concerned are normally early in the morning before the office opens and on the day Jobseeker's Allowance applicants sign on the Live Register. From the end of July, signing arrangements for Jobseeker's Allowance applicants at the office concerned will be extended to two days, Tuesday and Wednesday of the same week. The position will be kept under review and all options will be explored to minimize delays.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 376: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the length of time it takes to assess applications for jobseeker's allowance and benefit at a social welfare office (details supplied) in County Offaly; when and the way she will bring this back to an acceptable level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28706/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Live Register at the office concerned has increased by 76% over the last twelve months as a result of the economic downturn and staff are working flat out to deal with this increased claim load and to minimize the time taken to decide claims.

The average processing times at the office concerned for the month of June were 2.87 weeks for Jobseeker's Benefit claims and 6.05 weeks for Jobseeker's Allowance claims. The national averages for the same period were 3.34 weeks and 5.92 weeks, respectively. The Department has set a target to process 90% of Jobseeker's Benefit claims in 3 weeks and 90% of Jobseeker's Allowance claims in 6 weeks. During June the processing times for the office concerned were 65.86% and 64.63%, respectively.

The length of time it takes to process claims varies depending on the complexity of the claim, the availability of the necessary documentation from the applicant or his/her employer and the need to carry out additional enquires including the assessment of means and whether the claimant satisfies the Habitual Residence Condition.

Furthermore, processing times can vary depending on other factors such as staff vacancies, the duration of such vacancies and the turnover of staff which would impact on the overall level of experience in the office.

To cope with the increased workload an additional inspector was appointed for County Offaly in March and an additional two full-time staff and two temporary staff have been appointed to the office concerned during March and April. Accordingly, the time taken to process claims will improve as these staff, become more experienced.

It is recognised that the provision of additional staff in itself will not deal with the rising claim load. Accordingly all aspects of the work associated with the processing of claims is being examined and streamlined where possible, without compromising scheme controls.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 377: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the length of time it takes to assess applications for jobseeker's allowance and benefit at a social welfare office (details supplied) in County Laois; when and the way she will bring this back to an acceptable level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28709/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Live Register at the office concerned has increased by 92% over the last twelve months as a result of the economic downturn and staff are working flat out to deal with this increased claim load and to minimize the time taken to decide claims.

The average processing times at the office concerned for the month of June were 2.73 weeks for Jobseeker's Benefit claims and 9.75 weeks for Jobseeker's Allowance claims. The national averages for the same period were 3.34 weeks and 5.92 weeks, respectively. The Department has set a target to process 90% of Jobseeker's Benefit claims in 3 weeks and 90% of Jobseeker's Allowance claims in 6 weeks. During June the processing times for the office concerned were 75.88% and 44.67%, respectively.

The length of time it takes to process claims varies depending on the complexity of the claim, the availability of the necessary documentation from the applicant or his/her employer and the need to carry out additional enquires including the assessment of means and whether the claimant satisfies the Habitual Residence Condition.

Furthermore, processing times can vary depending on other factors such as staff vacancies, the duration of such vacancies and the turnover of staff which would impact on the overall level of experience in the office.

To cope with the increased workload an additional two full-time staff and two temporary staff were appointed to the parent local office of the office concerned during March and April. In addition to this the Department is currently in the process of recruiting an additional inspector for County Laois. Accordingly, the time taken to process claims will improve as these additional staff, become more experienced.

It is recognised that the provision of additional staff in itself will not deal with the rising claim load. Accordingly all aspects of the work associated with the processing of claims is being examined and streamlined where possible, without compromising scheme controls.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 378: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the length of time it takes to assess applications for jobseeker's allowance and benefit at a social welfare office (details supplied) in County Offaly; when and the way she will bring this back to an acceptable level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28710/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The average claim processing times for the office in question, in the month of June, were 2.63 weeks for jobseeker's benefit and 5.05 weeks for jobseeker's allowance. The corresponding figures nationally were 3.34 weeks for jobseeker's benefit and 5.92 weeks for jobseeker's allowance.

The processing target for jobseeker's benefit is 90% in three weeks, while for jobseeker's allowance the target is 90% in six weeks. In June, 85.37% of jobseeker's benefit claims and 66.67% of jobseeker's allowance claims in the office were decided within the specified times.

Every effort is being made to bring processing times back in line with targets. Following staffing reviews in 2008 and again in recent months, some 300 extra staff have been assigned to Local Offices, new Central Support Units and the Departments Inspectorate since May 2008. This includes 90 temporary staff who have been appointed to Local Offices around the country pending the assignment of permanent staff. Arrangements are also in train to assign a further 24 inspectors.

Anyone who is under financial pressure while awaiting a decision on their claim for a jobseeker's payment can apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance which is subject to a means test and other qualifying conditions.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 379: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the length of time it takes to assess applications for jobseeker's allowance and benefit at a social welfare office (details supplied) in County Offaly; when and the way she will bring this back to an acceptable level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28711/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The processing times for jobseeker's allowance applications for June 2009 in respect of the social welfare office in Edenderry are 13.10 weeks. The processing times for jobseeker's benefit applications for June 2009 at the office are 4.73 weeks.

The social welfare office in Edenderry is a branch office and decisions on applications made in that office as with the branch office in Castlepollard are made in their parent Social Welfare Local Office in Mullingar which is currently dealing with the significant increase in the number of persons registering as unemployed in all three offices as set out in the table.

The Department has put a range of measures in place to speed up claim processing which include: Three new staff were assigned to the Mullingar Area in the beginning of the year and a further 4 temporary clerical officers have been assigned in recent weeks. A further two staff have been approved and are in the process of being resourced. A Regional Local Office Support Unit has recently been established for the purpose of alleviating backlogs in social welfare offices including the Mullingar Local Office. All measures to improve processing times are being reviewed on a continuous basis.