Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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355. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the processing of PPSN applications (details supplied); her plans to resume normal operations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43046/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, my Department temporarily suspended the SAFE registration process. This decision was taken in order to comply with HSE and World Health Organisation Public Health guidelines. Although this suspension was lifted in June when restrictions eased the throughput in terms of processing applications was lower than normal due to the need to limit footfall into our offices in line with social distancing requirements.

In order to deal with these constraints and as an exceptional measure my Department introduced an email and postal service through which PPSN applications could be made.

By its nature, this temporary service is not as efficient as the face-to-face process it replaced. For example, any issues which arise regarding supporting documentation take longer to resolve than would be the case in a face-to-face environment. In addition, delays in issuing PPS Number arose as staff in my Department were re-assigned to deal with a huge increase in claim processing work arising as a consequence of the pandemic. In this context it was necessary, as I am sure the Deputy will understand, to prioritise getting people into payment above all other activities.

I am very conscious of the impact of the measures we had to take on issuing PPSNs and my Department has liaised with public representatives, public bodies, employers and other agencies, to deal with urgent cases as quickly as possible.

In recent weeks my Department has re-assigned resources to deal with these applications. This will substantially reduce the number of applications on hand over the next few weeks.

In addition, as Level 5 restrictions are lifted, my Department is now resuming SAFE registrations for PPSN applicants.

Deputies seeking updates on PPSN applications in respect of their constituents can contact the relevant section of my Department at TDREPS. ClientIdentity@welfare.ie

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.