Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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334. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the timeframe to process various applications such as carer's allowance or benefit, disability allowance, old age pensions and so on; and the actions being taken to reduce these waiting times. [2578/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that prompt processing of claims remains a priority for me. Each scheme area is continuously monitored and reviewed to ensure customers are responded to as quickly as possible, and their claims are processed as expeditiously as possible.

The Table provides details (where available) of processing times for each of the Department’s schemes in December 2017. All claims are registered promptly: in some schemes this is done through the scanning of claim documents onto the system while in other schemes this involves an officer inputting data. The time taken to perform means tests and/or medical examinations where these are required is not measured separately, while a determination on habitual residence where required is an integral part of the decision making process.

Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. As can be seen from the data in the table, schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of illness-related schemes, can take longer to process. Similarly, means-tested payments can also require more detailed investigation and interaction with the applicant, thereby lengthening the decision making process. Delays can also arise where information is required from social security organisations in other jurisdictions and where additional information has been requested from the applicant but remains outstanding.

As part of the Department’s programme of service delivery modernisation, a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology, have been implemented in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised.

In addition, the staffing needs of the Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to workloads and the competing demands arising, to ensure that the best use is made of all available resources.

The Intreo service integrates employment and income supports and provides for a streamlined and personalized service to clients in accessing job opportunities and availing of supports to enable them to get back to work at the earliest possible opportunity. The Intreo Centres also include a single integrated decision-making team that integrate and streamline the processes formerly undertaken by the different agencies now amalgamated into the Department. The benefits of the integrated decisions process are readily visible in terms of shorter decision times and in the reduced recourse to supplementary payments in offices where integrated decisions are in operation.

Average time to Award for principle DEASP schemes, December 2017