Written answers
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Department of Social Protection
Social Welfare Benefits
7:00 pm
Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 361: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision on an application will issue in respect of a person (details supplied), County Kerry. [22279/11]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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An application for domiciliary care allowance was received on 24th June 2011. The application has been forwarded to one of the Department's Medical Assessors for a medical opinion. A decision will issue to the person concerned when the Medical Assessor's opinion is received.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 362: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a full list of all social welfare payment schemes and the number of claimants in receipt of each payment; the number of undecided applications for each payment current on file; the average time it takes to process payments for each scheme; the average time it takes to hear appeals for each scheme and the percentage of appeals granted per scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22282/11]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tabular statements.
Table 1 gives the full list of recipients of weekly social welfare payments at the end of June by payment scheme.
Table 2 gives undecided applications and the average time to award applications for the main schemes within my Department in June 2011.
I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the overall average waiting time for an appeal dealt with by way of a summary decision in 2010 was 27.4 weeks, while the average time to process an oral hearing was 45.6 weeks. These processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation and include all activities during this period including time spent in the Department for comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal put forward by the appellant and any further investigation, examination or assessment by the Department's Inspectors and Medical Assessors that is deemed necessary. A considerable period of time is added to the process when an oral hearing is required because of the logistics involved in this process.
Table 3 gives the average processing times for appeals, by scheme. Figures for the percentage of appeals granted per scheme are not readily available but overall figures for 2010 are attached in Table 4.
Table 3 gives the average processing times for appeals, by scheme. Figures for the percentage of appeals granted per scheme are not readily available but overall figures for 2010 are attached in Table 4.
Table 1: Social Welfare Payment Schemes and number of recipients
Type of Payment | Recipients |
State Pension (Contributory) | 288,989 |
State Pension (Transition) | 11,088 |
State Pension (Non-Contributory) | 96,438 |
Pre-Retirement Allowance | 5,410 |
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension | 115,041 |
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension | 1,975 |
Deserted Wife's Benefit | 8,223 |
Deserted Wife's Allowance | 457 |
One Parent Family Payment | 92,863 |
Maternity Benefit | 22,651 |
Health and Safety Benefit | 60 |
Adoptive Benefit | 68 |
Guardian's Payment (Contributory) | 878 |
Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory) | 431 |
Illness Benefit | 77,046 |
Invalidity Pension | 50,335 |
Injury Benefit | 831 |
Interim Illness Benefit | 274 |
Disablement Pension | 13,767 |
Death Benefit (OIB Widows) | 630 |
Disability Allowance* | 101,605 |
Carer's Benefit | 1,707 |
Carer's Allowance | 51,115 |
Blind Pension | 1,491 |
Jobseeker's Benefit | 108,409 |
Jobseeker's Allowance | 291,298 |
Back To Work Allowance Employee | 480 |
Back To Work Enterprise Allowance : | |
- Self Employed First Year | 5,466 |
- Self Employed Years 2 - 4 | 4,135 |
Back To Education Allowance | 4,478 |
Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme | 161 |
Family Income Supplement | 24,236 |
Farm Assist | 11,144 |
Supplementary Welfare Allowance | 35,843 |
Rent Allowance | 163 |
* Disability Allowance figure is for May 2011
Table 2: Number of undecided applications and the average time to award an application for the main schemes
Undecided Applications | Average Weeks to Award | |
Jobseeker's Benefit | 9,914 | 2 |
Jobseeker's Allowance | 26,595 | 4 |
One-Parent Family Payment | 4,591 | 17 |
Illness Benefit | 11,439 | 2 |
Family Income Supplement (new claims) | 8,305 | 15 |
Family Income Supplement (renewals) | 6,638 | 17 |
Carer's Allowance | 5,238 | 13 |
Disability Allowance | 7,173 | 17 |
Invalidity Pension | 5,507 | Not Available |
State Pension Contributory | 3,103 | 5 |
State Pension Transition | 2,270 | 5 |
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension | 477 | 2 |
State Pension Non-Contributory | *1,656 | 15 |
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension | 132 | 9 |
Household Benefits | 3,023 | 2 |
Free Travel | 105 | 5 |
Domiciliary Care Allowance | 889 | 9 |
Child Benefit Domestic (family) | 2,674 | 2 |
Child Benefit EU | 2,827 | 41 |
Maternity Benefit | 3,544 | Not applicable |
* Due to a change in IT systems and reporting mechanisms data for State Pension Non-Contributory June 2011 is not readily available. This figure is based on an average year to date.
Table 3: Average processing times (in weeks) for appeals
Average time taken to process appeals by summary decision by scheme in 2010 | Average time taken to process appeals following oral hearing by scheme in 2010 | |
Adoptive Benefit | 32.6 | - |
Blind Pension | 19.8 | 39.4 |
Carers Allowance | 26.9 | 47.3 |
Carers Benefit | 21.6 | 44.2 |
Child Benefit | 48.4 | 63.1 |
Disability Allowance | 30.8 | 51.1 |
Illness Benefit | 39.2 | 56.4 |
Domiciliary Care | 26.8 | 49.1 |
Deserted Wives Benefit | 33.9 | 29.0 |
Farm Assist | 23.2 | 50.7 |
Bereavement Grant | 25.1 | - |
Family Income Supplement | 21.4 | 29.0 |
Homemakers | 15.3 | - |
Invalidity Pension | 40.9 | 59.7 |
Liable Relatives | 35.9 | - |
One Parent Family Payment | 30.2 | 49.4 |
Maternity Benefit | 37.7 | - |
State Pension (Contributory) | 29.6 | 49.2 |
State Pension (Non-Cont) | 26.5 | 49.9 |
State Pension (Transition) | 30.7 | - |
Occupational Injury Benefit | 55.7 | 53.8 |
Occupational Injury Ben (Med) | 32.5 | 67.9 |
Disablement Pension | 27.4 | 51.9 |
Death Benefit (Pension) | - | 69.6 |
Incapacity Supplement | - | 30.7 |
Guardian's Payment (Con) | 25.3 | 48.3 |
Guardian's Payment (NonCon) | 24.3 | 42.2 |
Pre-Retirement Allowance | - | - |
Jobseeker's Allow (Means) | 22.2 | 46.9 |
Jobseeker's Allowance | 23.6 | 43.0 |
Jobseeker's Benefit | 22.6 | 36.0 |
JA/JB Fraud Control | - | - |
Respite Care Grant | 30.5 | 49.1 |
Insurability of Employment | 31.3 | 67.4 |
Supplementary Welfare All | 6.9 | 14.8 |
Treatment Benefits | 21.9 | 57.8 |
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension | 35.2 | 53.6 |
Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension | 31.9 | 54.6 |
Widows Parent Grant | 20.9 | - |
Table 4: Percentage of appeals granted per scheme
Outcomes of Appeals Disposed of During 2010 | |||||
Appeals Determined by Appeals Officers | |||||
Revised Decisions by Deciding Officers | Allowed | Partially Allowed | Appeals Disallowed | Appeals Withdrawn | Total |
7,282 | 4,124 | 623 | 12,752 | 3,385 | 28,166 |
Oral Hearing | 2,094 | 389 | 3,031 | ||
Summary Decison | 2,030 | 234 | 9,721 |
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