Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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187. To ask the Minister for Health the current waiting time for carer's allowance and carer's benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35316/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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For future reference, the issue of carer's allowance and carer's benefit is a matter for my colleague Mr Leo Varadkar T.D., Minster for Social Protection. However, my Department has received a response to your question from his Department which I hope will be helpful to the Deputy.

I have been informed by my colleague Mr Varadkar that the Department of Social Protection 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.

The average waiting time for new carer's allowance (CA) applications at the end of September was 14 weeks and 9 weeks for carer's benefit (CARB). At the end of September, there were 4,146 CA and 484 CARB applications awaiting decision. The volume of claims on hands are a consequence of continued strong claim intake and the delays in processing are frequently caused by the customer failing to fully complete the claim form or failing to attach the supporting documentation that is requested on the application form.

Applications for CA by the end of September 2016 are 20% higher than in the same period in 2015 while applications for CARB are 24% higher. This has impacted on the timely processing of applications.

Reducing these waiting times is a priority for the Department and it is working hard to make this happen. As part of its programme of service delivery modernisation, a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology, have been implemented by the Department in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised.

In addition, staffing needs are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources. Where additional staffing is deployed to a scheme, such as has happened for carer’s allowance, there is a time-lag involved while those staff are trained and build up expertise.

The Department has seen a significant reduction in CA processing from 22 weeks at the end of May to 14 weeks at the end of September and expects the processing times for both schemes to reduce further, as recently assigned staff get up to speed with the work involved in claim processing.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.