Written answers

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Department of Social Protection

Maternity Benefit Administration

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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153. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on reports of delays in the issuing of maternity benefit payments; the reason for the delays; the average waiting time for receipt of this payment; the steps he will take to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22214/17]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Currently there are over 2,850 claims for maternity benefit waiting to be processed. Just over 1,300 of these claims have a leave commencement date of 8 May 2017, or earlier. Maternity benefit claims are processed in leave commencement date order. The average time to process a paper claim is 6 weeks. Processing claims by leave commencement date order ensures that those whose maternity leave is impending or has already started receive priority.

The delays have been caused by a combination of staffing and operational issues. The Department has recently experienced a turnover of staff in the Buncrana office which processes maternity claims. They have also experienced challenges in recruiting replacement staff and once recruited it takes time for staff to be fully trained. In relation to the operational issues, a new IT system has recently been introduced and has taken time to bed in fully.

To alleviate delays, additional staff have been assigned and staff are working overtime. I want to assure customers that every effort is being made to ensure all claims are processed as quickly as possible.

Once a claim has been awarded, and where the leave has already commenced, payment issues on the following Monday and this payment will also include any arrears due to the customer at that point.

The Department also facilitates online applications for maternity benefit and an automated decision is made where the customer submits all necessary information and where the detail provided can be validated. I would ask the Deputy to encourage women who are planning maternity leave to use this channel, if possible, as it provides the most effective method of applying for maternity benefit.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

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