Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the current turnaround times for processing claims for all social welfare payment types in her Department; if she will provide in tabular form the average processing times for the various claims since May 2012; if she will provide information on the percentage of the various applications submitted to her Department that take longer than the average processing time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43799/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. As can be seen from the data in the table below, schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of illness-related schemes, can take longer to process. Similarly, means-tested payments can also require more detailed investigation and interaction with the applicant, thereby lengthening the decision making process.

As part of the Department’s programme of service delivery modernisation, a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology, have been implemented in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised.

In addition, the staffing needs of the Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources. The Department will continue to source available staff to fill critical vacancies by way of redeployment, or transfer from within the Department and other Government Departments, taking account of the employment control framework (ECF) target, as determined by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

I wish to assure the Deputy that prompt processing of claims remains a priority for me.

Table: Claim processing performance, May to August 2012:

Average weeks to award