Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for mortgage interest relief applications to be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32630/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The community welfare service (CWS) and the community welfare officers providing it transferred formally to the Department of Social Protection (DSP) from 1 October 2011. The service and the staff are now part of the DSP.

The timescale for determining applications for mortgage interest supplement (MIS) is dependent, among other things, on the availability of the required information, such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements etc. In addition, some aspects of the application are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where investigations such as home visits or third party evidence are required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information.

Statistics are not available on the average length of time taken to assess mortgage interest supplement applications.

The provision of a prompt service is a major objective for the Department's staff dealing with MIS applications. However, this is tempered by the necessity to ensure that every case is fully investigated and that all cases are dealt with in a consistent and fair manner. While certain applications may take more time to process than others, I am satisfied that the Department's staff dealing with these applications make every effort to ensure mortgage interest supplement claims are processed efficiently and that the appropriate levels of oversight and controls are in place.