Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, the year on year average processing times for treatment benefit scheme applicants from 2007 - 2012 inclusive. [31531/12]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, the year on year average payment waiting times under the treatment benefit scheme from 2007 - 2012 inclusive. [31532/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 106 together.

The application and treatment process under the Treatment Benefit scheme is as follows.

The customer, or the dentist/optician/audiologist on their behalf, contacts the Department to enquire about their entitlement to Treatment Benefit. Once approval has been given, usually within 24 hours if the enquiry is by e-mail/fax or within minutes in the case of a phone enquiry, the customer is able to proceed with the treatment immediately.

When treatment is completed, the application form is sent to the Department for payment. Payments issue on a regular monthly basis to panellists, the dentist or optician. Payment is not made to the customers themselves, unless in a very small number of cases were treatment is obtained outside the state. Valid claims received by the Department in a calendar month are processed and paid during the following month.

In general the only cases that take longer to process are those for which further information is required, for example if customers has worked elsewhere in the EU and must have their employment contributions considered to allow them to qualify. However these represent a very small minority of cases.

The relevant figures for claims processed within 21 days is as follows;