Written answers

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Department of Social Protection

Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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177. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the average waiting times from the point of application to a decision being made in respect of each social welfare payment. [34045/15]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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A breakdown of the average time, where available, to award claims during August 2015 is detailed in the following tabular statement.

Processing times vary by scheme reflecting their differing legal eligibility requirements such as income/means limits and medical status. The processing times provided in the table also incorporate the impact of overall processing times of the appeals process.

#Average Time to Award Claims August 2015
SchemeAverage Time to Award Claims (Weeks)
3
3
9
4
2
20
3
3
Supplementary Welfare Allowance1
3
Child Benefit (Domestic and FRA)2
Child Benefit (EU regulation)29
*35
*32
Domiciliary Care Allowance15
*21
1
* The average time to award state pension non-contributory, disability allowance, carers' allowance and invalidity pension applications at the end of August was 20, 32, 35 and 21 weeks respectively. New applications for state pension non-contributory are currently decided upon inside 14.5 weeks, disability allowance are currently decided upon inside 9.7 weeks, carer’s allowance are currently decided upon inside 16.5 weeks on average and invalidity pension claims are currently decided upon within 3.8 weeks of receipt. The overall average processing times reflect appeals in the system.

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