Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the steps that are being taken to reduce and minimise delays in the processing time for applications to the various schemes as administered by the social welfare services component of her Department. [4035/13]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the progress that has been made in reducing waiting lists for applicants to each of the social welfare payments in the past year. [4060/13]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the waiting time for applications for payments to be decided upon, for example invalidity pension, disability benefit, jobseeker's and so on. [3928/13]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which it has been found possible to shorten the time taken to process applications for each category of social welfare payment; the area or areas still requiring further attention in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4539/13]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which she continues to monitor the staff requirements throughout her Department with particular reference to the need to eliminate backlogs arising from the increased number of applicants for various payments; if it has been found possible to respond to on-going and increasing demand arising from the economic situation which she inherited from her predecessors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4545/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 140, 160, 170, 474 and 480 together.

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. Delays can also arise if information is required from social security organisations in other jurisdictions and where additional information has been requested from the applicant but remains outstanding. For example, pension claims on hand for more than three months typically occur in the case of EU/bilateral pensions where information from other jurisdictions is awaited or, in the case of self-employed, there may be outstanding PRSI liabilities. This delay impacts on the award of household benefits in many cases as these secondary payments are linked to when the primary benefit is awarded.

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. Since May, 2008 to end December, 2012, a total of 1,084 posts (1,111 people) have been filled across the Department through redeployment and transfer of staff.

The new Intreo service is currently being rolled-out and implemented on a phased basis. This new service integrates employment and income supports and provides for a streamlined and personalized service to clients in accessing job opportunities and availing of supports to enable them to get back to work at the earliest possible opportunity. The Intreo Centres also include a single integrated decision-making team that integrate and streamline the processes formerly undertaken by the different agencies now amalgamated into the Department. Already clients are seeing the benefits of the integrated decisions process in terms of shorter decision times and in the reduced recourse to supplementary payments in offices where integrated decisions are in operation.

The Table below provides details of processing times for each quarter during 2013. It demonstrates the recent improvements that have been made in areas such as invalidity pension and family income supplement (FIS) areas. FIS claims, both new and renewals received on or after the 5th November 2012 are currently being processed on receipt and it is intended to eliminate all backlogs by the end of March 2013. The introduction of a new IT platform has also improved processing times for invalidity pension.

I wish to assure the Deputies that prompt processing of claims remains a priority for me. Each scheme area is continuously monitored and processing procedures reviewed to ensure that claims are paid to customer as quickly as possible.

Table: Claim processing times per Quarter - 2012:

*Estimated for schemes which have recently been transferred to new IT platform