Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Question 345: To ask the Minister for Social Protection in the case of invalidity pension applications, the reason it can take up to a year for the files to be sent to the social welfare appeals office in the event that a refusal of benefit is appealed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10726/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible and subsequent appeals are submitted to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) without delay. Invalidity pension is a weekly payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of an illness or incapacity. To qualify, both medical and social insurance (PRSI) conditions must be satisfied.

There has been a consistent upward trend in recent years in the number of applicants for invalidity pension. There were 7475 new claims registered in 2009, 8774 in 2010 and 14621 in 2011.

In order to meet the challenge of increased volumes of new claims for its schemes, the Department has embarked on a major programme of process redesign and modernisation, including the deployment of new computer systems. Processing of new invalidity pension claims on the new system commenced in December 2010 and the existing claimload was transferred to the new system in May 2011. Significant redeployment of staff resources to project work during the period and some initial technical issues with the new system resulted in unacceptable delays in relation to submission of claims to the SWAO. The technical issues have since been resolved and delays being experienced have been reduced over the past few months. Processes and procedures are continuously reviewed with the explicit objective of reducing delays. The position is being closely monitored and kept under review by my Department.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Question 346: To ask the Minister for Social Protection in the case of carer's benefit and allowance applications, the reason it can take up to a year for the files to be sent to the social welfare appeals office in the event that a refusal of benefit is appealed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10727/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible and subsequent appeals are submitted to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) without delay.

There has been a high volume of applicants for carer's allowance in recent years. There were 16,574 registered in 2009, 18,212 in 2010 and 17,259 in 2011.

In order to meet the challenge of increased volumes of new claims for its schemes, the Department has embarked on a major programme of process redesign and modernisation, including the deployment of new computer systems. The first tranche of new carer's allowance claims began to be processed under the new system is August 2011. It is anticipated that the new system will introduce significant processing efficiencies and a quicker and more responsive service to the customer. Accordingly, the project is being given high priority and involves a significant level of time and commitment from the relevant staff in the Department. This has had a short-term negative impact on claim processing times and ancillary work.

The time taken in 2011 to process a carer's allowance appeal, from the date a notice of appeal is lodged to the date a submission is lodged with the SWAO, is an average of approximately 13 weeks. Processes and procedures are continuously reviewed with the explicit objective of reducing delays. The position is being closely monitored and kept under review by the Department.

Regarding carer's benefit appeals, 80% of appeals submissions are sent to SWAO within four weeks of receipt and the balance within 8 weeks. This has been consistent for the last three years.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Question 348: To ask the Minister for Social Protection in the case of illness benefit applications, the reason it can take up to a year for the files to be sent to the social welfare appeals office in the event that a refusal of benefit is appealed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10729/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In the case of an illness benefit appeal it is most unusual for it to take up to a year for the file to be sent to the social welfare appeals office. However, if the deputy is aware of a particular case, my department will have the matter investigated if the necessary details are provided. Currently, the illness benefit branch is dealing with appeal cases it received in mid January of this year.