Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the current waiting time for an application for child benefit; the number of applicants currently waiting for their child benefit application to be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40334/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Applications for Child Benefit may be dealt with either under domestic legislation or EU legislation.Claims made under domestic legislation are processed on average within three weeks of receipt. Currently, a total of 1,533 claims are pending under domestic legislation, of which 458 are awaiting further information from customers.

Claims made under EU legislation are processed within six months on average. This is due to the need for correspondence with other EU countries, which takes time. A total of 2,004 EU claims are pending, of which 1,676 are awaiting further information from the customer or other institutions.