Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

226. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of staff currently employed in the carer's section in the social welfare office in Longford; his plans to increase the number of staff who are employed in this section; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10733/17]

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

Currently, there are 73.5 full-time equivalents (77 people) assigned to the Carers section.

My Department, like all Government departments and agencies, is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget, which for this Department has involved reductions in staff numbers.

Within these constraints, the Department is focusing on prioritising the filling of critical posts. The staffing needs for all areas within the Department, including the Carers Section, are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department.

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. Applications for the Carers Allowance scheme in 2016 increased by 20% over 2015. During 2016 additional resources were provided to the section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications which has resulted in a significant reduction in processing times from 20 weeks at the end of January 2016 to 11 weeks at the end of January 2017. It is expected that processing times for the scheme will reduce further.