Written answers

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Social Welfare Benefits

9:00 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she has taken or proposes to take to streamline and speed up the process of applications for various social welfare payments with particular reference to means testing and assessment with a view to eliminating concerns, anxiety and hardship for those who find themselves unemployed, ill or otherwise dependent on a social welfare payment; if her attention has been drawn to the procedures in place in some respects; if she will acknowledge the need for a prompt and caring response in such cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1778/10]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 813: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she has taken to address the delays in the process of application for social welfare payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2183/10]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Question No. 118 and 813 together.

Every effort is made to process claims for social welfare payments as quickly as possible. Staff in the Department are aware of the concerns of claimants who find themselves in need of a payment. Delays can occur in the processing of claims where additional information is required or where all documentation is not to hand. On means-tested schemes it may be necessary for the person to be visited in their home by a Social Welfare Inspector for the purpose of assessing the means and this can add to the time involved in finalising the claim. Cases involving self-employment or property (other than the family home) can also take longer to investigate.

The Deputy will be aware of the particular difficulties presented due to the huge rise in unemployment in the past 18 months or so and the pressure this has brought to bear on the network of local offices and in the inspectorate. To alleviate some of this pressure since May 2008, some 400 extra staff have been assigned to local offices, new Central Support Units and the Departments Inspectorate. At the same time the Department has been examining all aspects of the work associated with the processing of claims and streamlining them wherever possible without, of course, compromising scheme controls.

One of these streamlining initiatives, which is being trialled at present, relates to customers who are applying for jobseeker's allowance on the termination of their jobseeker's benefit entitlement. In any of these cases where there are no elements of self-employment or property involved in the means assessment, the person will self-certify the various components of their means and a decision will be made by the Deciding Officer without the need to refer the claim to an Inspector. As a control measure a certain proportion of these claims will be selected at random and will be referred to an inspector for verification of the declaration of means. It is expected that this initiative will be rolled out to the network of local offices in the coming months. In the State Pension Non-Contributory area a desk assessment process has been introduced whereby claims are processed and decided based on the information provided by the customer on their application form. This initiative has removed the requirement on Social Welfare Inspectors to investigate all claims and has led to a reduction in processing times for claims received under the scheme. Over the past year some 40% of all claims for State Pension have been fully processed by desk assessment. It is hoped to extend this initiative to other means-tested schemes. Anyone who is under financial pressure while awaiting a decision on their claim can apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance from the Community Welfare Officer which is subject to a means test and other qualifying condition.

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