Written answers

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times

Photo of Bobby AylwardBobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is satisfied that the application process and waiting times for payments such as domiciliary care's allowance and carer's and disability allowances are both acceptable and accessible; the steps being taken to reduce waiting times for these payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46618/18]

Photo of Regina DohertyRegina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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.

Both Disability Allowance and Domiciliary Care Allowance claim processing times are within their respective targets. In October 2018 the average time taken to process new Disability Allowance applications was 11 weeks and the average time taken to process new Domiciliary Care Allowance applications was 10 weeks.

Carer's Allowance claim processing is currently outside the scheme target, which is that 70% of claims should be processed within 12 weeks. In October 2018, the average time taken to process new Carer's Allowance applications is 17 weeks.

In general, social welfare schemes with a number of complex qualifying conditions can take longer to process. Before a decision can be made on entitlement to Carer's Allowance, evidence must be provided in respect of the carer’s habitual residence in the State, the level of care they provide, their means and also that the person being cared for has such a disability that they require full-time care and attention. It is sometimes the case that the documentary evidence provided at initial application stage is incomplete or insufficient and this can contribute to the time taken to process applications.

The Department recently launched a re-designed Carer's Allowance application form which includes a new Care Report section which has been arrived at through consultation between officials and medical assessors of my Department and representatives and members of Family Carers Ireland. This new form allows carers to provide more information on the type and level of care they provide, with an aim to providing Deciding Officers with the information they need to expedite decisions on entitlement.

Also, additional staff have also recently been reassigned to the Carer's Allowance area to work on claims processing and this should lead to a reduction in processing times in that area.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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