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 family income supplement; the number of applicants currently waiting for their family income supplement application to be processed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5230/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. FIS claims, both new and renewals received on or after 5 November 2012 are currently being processed on receipt. On 2 November 2012 there was a backlog of approximately 7,390 new (first-time) FIS claims and approximately 7,810 renewal claims awaiting processing and decision. As of today, all the backlogged renewal claims have been processed and there are currently approximately 6,380 new (first-time) FIS claims still awaiting approvals. It is expected that the backlog of new claims will be fully eliminated by the end of March 2013.