Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection when an application for carer's allowance in respect of a person (details Supplied ) in County Cork will be processed; when a decision will issue; the amount of months applicants for carer's allowance who are now being processed have had to wait for their application to be processed; the steps she intends to take to reduce this processing time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54116/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 13th of April 2012. The application is with a deciding officer for a decision. Once processed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

The average time taken to award a carer’s allowance application is 25 weeks, however individual cases may vary. Some will be processed quicker, others will take longer depending on complexity and whether all information is supplied by the customer at the outset. In addition, where a customer requests a review of an initial decision to refuse an application, this will take additional time. 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 appropriate action to resolve the situation.

Following the completion of a major modernisation project, an in-depth business process improvement (BPI) project was completed for the carer’s allowance scheme. This project focused on optimising output and customer service and the reduction of backlogs. The outcome of the review is the division of work into two streams. One concentrates on dealing with new claim intake and processes these without delay and the other on the backlog which is ring-fenced with a clear and targeted plan for its elimination. Implementation of the plan commenced on Monday 3 September and will be closely monitored and managed to ensure it achieves its objectives. A noted increase in the number of new claims processed has been achieved in recent months where claims processed have substantially exceeded claim intake. However, it will take a number of months before the backlog is reduced to an acceptable level. Significant additional temporary resources already have been allocated to the backlog elimination effort and the situation continues to be monitored in order that the backlog is eliminated in the shortest possible timeframe.

Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan will receive a decision in relation to their application for carers allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54117/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 27th March 2012. This application was referred to one of the Department’s medical assessors who found that the caree in question was not medically eligible for carer’s allowance. A letter issued on the 21st August 2012 refusing the allowance. The person in question subsequently submitted further medical evidence for review on 13th of September 2012. This medical evidence has now been assessed by a medical assessor and the application is with a deciding officer for review. The person in question will be contacted directly with the outcome.