Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 160 of 22 September 2011 in respect of an application for jobseekers allowance, if due consideration was given to the total outgoings of the household of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26679/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The person concerned was disallowed jobseeker's allowance as his means were in excess of the statutory limit based on spousal earnings. The scheduled rate for a person of his circumstances is €402.20. His weekly means have been assessed at €498 based on his wife's assessable earnings. Household outgoings are not taken into account when assessing means for this income support. If the person concerned is not satisfied with the decision of the deciding officer it is open to him to appeal the decision to the social welfare appeals office in writing, citing his grounds for appeal.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the measures being implemented to improve processing times for benefits. [26690/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. To this end, operational processes and procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed throughout the Department. Such reviews are supported by modern technology, the potential of which is continuously harnessed.

In addition, the staffing needs of my Department are kept under constant review to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources. In excess of 900 staff have been assigned to my Department since May 2008 to fill critical vacancies and additional posts that were approved to deal with the significant increase in claims for the various schemes.

Processing times vary across schemes because of both the volume of applications and the differing qualification criteria. For example, means assessments are required for all of the social assistance schemes; medical examinations are required for some of the illness-related schemes and, in the case of certain payments, customers must also satisfy the habitual residence conditions. In the case of the insurance-based schemes, it may be necessary to ascertain details of foreign insurance records.

One of the main impacts on current service delivery has been the increase in the Live Register. In this context, my Department has introduced a range of process improvement initiatives regarding claims for jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit. One of the most significant initiatives, aimed at reducing queuing and waiting times, involves customers attending their local office by appointment at which time the claim is taken and decided. This provides for the appropriate appointment to be scheduled for the customer thus enabling certain claims to be dealt with in a single visit to the office.

Such process improvements have resulted in a significant reduction in the number and proportion of all claims awaiting a decision. For example, there were 35,533 jobseeker claims awaiting a decision on 24th September 2011 equating to 7% of the total claim-load. This compares favourably to 25th September 2010 when 44,279 claims or 9% of claim-load were awaiting decision and 65,245 claims or 14% of claim-load in September 2009.

In addition, the Department's eGovernment strategy aims to support and develop customer contact channels that maximise customer service and minimise cost of delivery. Recent years have seen significant investment in the provision of improved information and online services, resulting in increased customer awareness of their entitlements and more efficient claim processing procedures.

The Department's website www.welfare.ie , redesigned in 2008, provides comprehensive information on all the Department's schemes and services as well as a range of online services. These include online claiming for State Pension Contributory, Household Benefits, Child Benefit, Jobseeker's payments and Widow(er)'s and Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension. It is planned to extend the online claiming service in 2011/2012 to include Carer's Allowance, Disability Allowance, State Pension (Non-Contributory) and Redundancy Payments and Insolvency Payments.

The planned integration of the Community Welfare Service from the Health Service Executive, along with employment and other services from FÁS into my Department in the coming months provides further opportunity to enhance the service available to customers. This is an important first step in the establishment of the new National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES), a key commitment in the Programme for Government, which was approved by the Government in July. This new service will provide services using a 'one stop shop' model of delivery where customers can avail of all employment and benefit support services through any one of a number of service channels, public office, call centre or internet. The plan for its development and implementation has now been published.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue on an application for carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Donegal. [26704/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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An application for carer's allowance from the person concerned was received on 22 July 2011. On completion of the necessary investigations relating to all aspects of his claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.