Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 272: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average time to process a claim for carer's allowance including an assessment of medical evidence, means, residency and confirmation that the full time care condition has been satisfied; the number of cases awaiting a decision of more than 30 weeks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30376/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. Currently the average time taken to award a carer's allowance application is 28 weeks. There are currently approximately 8,640 new carer's allowance applications registered and awaiting a decision. Of these, approximately 1,450 cases have been awaiting a decision for more than 30 weeks.

I acknowledge that the time taken to process carer's allowance claims at present is not satisfactory but I am satisfied that the Department is taking action to resolve the situation. A major service delivery modernisation project is underway to improve the efficiency of administration of the carer's allowance scheme. This involves the deployment of information technology solutions and associated business process re-organisation. It is anticipated that the new system will introduce significant processing efficiencies and a quicker and more responsive service to the customers. Full deployment of the new system for carer's allowance has completed this month. In tandem with the full implementation of the new system, a comprehensive business process improvement exercise is commencing on the 2nd July, the focus of which is to optimise performance and provide improved customer service. However it is expected to be a number of months before the backlog is reduced to an acceptable level.