Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which adequate staff remain available to her or can be acquired to address the ever growing issue of backlog due to the effects of the downturn in the economy, with particular reference to the need to address such areas as carer's allowance applications and appeals, disability and invalidity pensions and/or emergency payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29128/11]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which redeployment of staff from other Departments is required to augment staffing levels in her Department having particular regard to the increased workload arising from the economic situation; if an assessment has been done to determine the full extent of any outstanding requirements in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29295/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 101 together.

I would like to assure the Deputy that the staffing needs of my Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources. The Department will continue to source available staff to fill critical vacancies by way of redeployment, or transfer from within the Department and other Government Departments, taking account of the employment control framework (ECF) target, as determined by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

As previously indicated to the House, since May 2008, some 900 staff have been assigned across the Department to fill critical vacancies and additional posts allocated to deal with the increased volume of claims. Processing times vary across schemes because of the volume of applications and the differing qualification criteria. For example, means assessments are required for all social assistance schemes, medical examinations are required for some of the illness related schemes and customers must also satisfy the habitual residence conditions. In the case of insurance based schemes, it may be necessary to ascertain details of foreign insurance records.

With regard to the particular schemes referenced by the Deputy, I would advise that the Department is involved in a major service delivery modernisation project to improve the efficiency with which it processes applications for its carer's allowance, invalidity and disability pensions, amongst other schemes. The project involves the development of new IT functionality and associated business process re-organisation.

The invalidity pension scheme is fully operational on the new system since May 2011 with most claims now being desk assessed by medical assessors to determine medical suitability. All new carer's allowance claims are being processed on the new IT system since August 2011. The next phase of the project involves the migration of the existing claims, and this is currently planned for the second quarter of 2012.

In relation to the disability allowance scheme there has been a significant increase in the number of claims being desk assessed thus reducing the number of cases being referred for investigation by social welfare inspectors. In addition, since August 2009 all claims for disability allowance are being desk assessed by the medical assessors thus obviating the need to call claimants for in-person medical examinations. Since November 2010, all medical reports for new disability allowance claims are being scanned which facilitates easier access by more medical assessors. A project was commenced in July 2011 to provide for the processing of disability allowance claims on the new IT system. It is expected that the first batch of new claims will be dealt with in the first quarter of 2012.

The modernisation project is being given high priority and requires a significant level of time and commitment from staff in the scheme areas involved in the project. This necessary diversion of resources has resulted in a negative impact on claim processing times which is expected to continue in the short-term until the projects are fully implemented and the backlogs can be cleared. As an interim measure overtime and additional temporary staff have been deployed to assist with clearing the backlogs. Also, resources from within the Carer's Allowance section have been deployed to deal with the backlog of appeals cases on hands for submission to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

While every effort is made to decide on entitlement in a timely manner, there are cases where delays will necessarily be experienced. In situations where customers find themselves suffering financial hardship while awaiting the outcome of a claim, the facility to receive supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) is provided for. More than 95% of basic SWA applications are decided and paid within a week. I am very pleased to inform the House that the Community Welfare Service (CWS) transferred from the HSE to my Department on 1st October 2011. The integration of the service will bring about further enhanced, more streamlined service delivery to our customers.