Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that some families have their family income payment stopped pending annual review of the payment and that this review can take several weeks leaving those families in financial hardship pending their being put back on the payment with any arrears paid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17462/12]

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.

An integral part of the family income supplement (FIS) scheme is that once the level of payment is determined, it continues to be payable at that rate for a period of 52 weeks, provided that the person remains in full time employment. The rate of payment may be increased if an additional child is born in the course of the 52 weeks. On the other hand, the rate of payment will not change if there is an increase or decrease in the recipient's earnings. A key advantage of this approach, which is unique to the FIS scheme, is that claimants can be certain that they will receive a guaranteed level of income support throughout the period. This certainty is important to the success of the scheme in providing a real incentive to workers with families to avail of employment opportunities. For these reasons, rather than for reasons of administrative convenience, this measure is specifically provided for in legislation.

Claimants must apply to have their payment renewed if they wish to receive payment for a further 52 weeks. At present, application forms for renewal of the payment of FIS for a further 52 weeks are issued one month in advance of the expiry of the current payment and are processed in order of the date of expiry of the current payment and not by the date of receipt of a completed renewal form. This is designed to facilitate the collection of the most up-to-date customer information to ensure the fairest calculation of entitlement for the next 52 week payment period of FIS.

The waiting time for renewal FIS claims is currently between 8-9 weeks. The delays in processing are a consequence of continued strong claim intake.

The Department has introduced a number of measures to address the efficiency of claim processing for FIS in light of the current waiting times:

· Existing processes and procedures are reviewed on an ongoing basis with the explicit objective of reducing delays in claim processing;

· Priority is being given to renewal claims to preserve continuity of payment;

· The ongoing staffing requirement is being kept under review in light of the continued strong claim intake;

· Additional temporary staff have been recruited to help reduce the backlog;

· Overtime working is being applied where feasible;

These measures are aimed at reducing the number of claims on hand and the average waiting time for a decision. The position is being closely monitored and kept under review by the Department.