Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps she can or will take to eliminate backlogs resulting in long delays in the issue of the various payments for which she is responsible with particular reference to what seems like interminable delays and circuitous repetitive procedures involving duplicative and time-consuming processes; if she will examine the cause or causes for contradictory and unsustainable opinion and its effects on applicants for carer's allowance, domiciliary care allowance, disability allowance, invalidity pension, rent support, mortgage interest relief and or similar payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11888/12]

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 decisions made on entitlement as quickly as possible. Each application for payment is determined by an officer of the Department taking account of the relevant legislative provisions and on the basis of the merits of each individual case. The timescale for determining applications are dependent, among other things, on the availability of the required information, such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements, information from landlords, lending institutions etc. In addition, some aspects of the applications are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where further investigations or third party evidence is required or where a medical examination is required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information.

The provision of a prompt service is a major objective; however this has to be achieved in a manner that is consistent with the demands of natural justice and the need to ensure that every case is fully investigated. While certain cases may take more time to process than others, and I am aware that there are backlogs in certain areas, overall, I am satisfied that every effort is being made to decide social welfare claims in an efficient, effective and timely manner.