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 invalidity pension; the number of applicants currently waiting for their invalidity pension application to be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40338/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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At the end of August 2012 there were 5802 Invalidity Pension (IP) claims registered and awaiting decision. Average time to award is currently 33 weeks, this includes the time taken to decide EU and bilateral cases which have a significantly longer processing time.

Since the introduction of the two year expiration of illness benefit there has been a significant increase in the number of IP claims received in the Department. A high percentage of these applicants are not suitable for the invalidity pension scheme as they are not assessed as being permanently incapable of work.

Since June of this year, following an in-depth business process improvement project in the invalidity pension area, a targeted plan has been put in place to clear the backlog. The number of claims awaiting decision is steadily decreasing e.g. from 7,007 at end May, 6,285 at end July to 5,802 at end August 2012. However it will be a number of months before the backlog of claims is fully cleared.

The processing time for individual IP claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity in terms of the qualifying criteria. In addition, factors outside the Department’s control can have an impact, for example, insufficient information received from claimants at time of application and delays in claimants furnishing the information requested.

Customers waiting on a decision on their IP claim, who have urgent income support needs, can apply for the means tested supplementary welfare allowance (SWA).