Written answers

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Department of Social Protection

Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times

Photo of Bobby AylwardBobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting time for decisions on carer's allowance and domiciliary care allowance applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25765/17]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care.

This means that the care recipient requires from another person continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continual supervision in order to avoid being a danger to him/herself and is likely to require such full-time care for at least 12 months.

Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly payment to the parent/guardian of a child, aged under 16 with a disability so severe that the child requires care and attention and/or supervision substantially in excess of another child of the same age. This care and attention must be provided to allow the child to deal with the activities of daily living, and s/he must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 months.

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 current processing times for CA applications is 12 weeks and for DCA applications is 16 weeks. Both schemes have seen a considerable increase in applications in recent years. Applications for CA in 2016 were 20% higher than in 2015, while applications for DCA were 16% higher than in 2015. These increases, together with the need to introduce new revised decision making processes in early 2014, to demonstrate compliance with a High Court decision, have impacted on the volumes of applications processed within the set target.

Reducing these waiting times is a priority for my Department and we are 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 my 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, there is a time-lag involved while those staff are trained and build up expertise. My Department has seen a significant reduction in average CA processing times from 22 weeks at the end of May 2016 to 12 weeks at the end of April 2017 and expects the processing times for both schemes to reduce further over the next few months, as recently assigned staff get up to speed with the work involved in claim processing.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Photo of Denise MitchellDenise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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80. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason for the increase in processing times for payments in his Department, including maternity benefit, carer's allowance, illness benefit, invalidity pension, occupational injuries benefit and domiciliary care allowance; his plans to improve performance in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25763/17]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Each scheme area is continuously monitored and reviewed to ensure customers are responded to and claims are processed as quickly as possible. However, the Department has experienced some difficulty in recent times with the maternity benefit scheme, where it has not been possible to process all claims in advance of their maternity leave commencement date. Corrective actions have been taken and good progress is being made, with the number of expectant mothers who are impacted reducing significantly week by week.

Schemes such as those referenced in the question that require medical and other supporting documentation can take some time to properly assess, particularly as the opinion of one of the department’s medical assessor’s is routinely required. Increasing numbers applying have also been a feature of these schemes in recent years. As an example, in the 4 year period from 2013 to 2016 the number of applications for domiciliary care allowance has increased by 54%, from under 5,000 to almost 7,500 per annum. In addition to the increased volumes, there has recently also been a significant increase in the complexity and length of time required to process applications.

Efforts continue across all schemes to improve processing times, with a noticeable improvement in processing times for carer's allowance over the last twelve months, the average time to award reducing from 22 weeks in May 2016 to 12 weeks in April 2017.

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 my Department in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised. Staffing levels are also kept under continuous review to ensure the best use of available resources.

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