Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

151. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for a successful applicant for carer's allowance to receive their allowance; and the average waiting time for an applicant to receive their allowance and be reimbursed following a successful appeal. [3372/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My 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.

The average waiting time for new carer's allowance (CA) applications at the end of December 2016 was 11 weeks. At the end of December, there were 3,490 CA applications awaiting decision. The volume of CA 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 in 2016 were 20% higher than in 2015. Nevertheless, my Department has seen a significant reduction in CA average processing times, from 22 weeks at the end of May 2016 to 11 weeks at the end of December 2016. Processing times are expected to further improve this year.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) advises that the current average time taken to decide a CA appeal summarily is 17.6 weeks and 21.6 weeks for oral hearings. This represents a continuing improvement in appeal processing times compared to 2015, when the average times taken were 20.6 weeks and 25.9 weeks respectively for summary and oral hearing appeals.

Where a customer appeal is successful, every effort is made to implement the Appeals Officer’s decision within 3 weeks of notice of the decision being received from the SWAO.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.