Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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21. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will review the "working week" for working age payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37485/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The primary support for jobseeker's is available under the social insurance based Jobseeker's Benefit scheme or the means tested Jobseeker's Allowance scheme. In circumstances where full-time work is not available, these schemes provide that a person can work up to 3 days per week where they are fully unemployed for at least four in any seven consecutive days. Currently, almost 21,000 people working on a part-time basis are in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment.

The jobseekers supports are undergoing a period of reform and the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 sets out the legislative framework for a new Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit scheme which will be payable to those who lose their employment. Jobseeker's Benefit will remain available to persons who work on a part-time or other atypical basis.

Work is also continuing in relation to the development of the possible features of a Working Age Payment. A proposed model would effectively merge Jobseeker’s Allowance and Working Family Payment so that a person’s payment would be based on a percentage of the difference between their income and a specified threshold for their family type. The principle would be to flexibly adjust payments in line with employment earnings and obviate the need for the current system of ‘casual days’, ‘disregards’ and ‘minimum hours’ requirements within the working week. Draft proposals on a Working Age Payment were included in the public consultations on Pay-Related Jobseeker’s Benefit and the Green Paper on Disability Reform. The responses received will form part of the inputs to the development of this proposal.

In addition to the jobseeker's schemes, the Working Family Payment supports families on low incomes and there are tapered income disregards across a number of schemes to support the take up of employment.

I trust this clarifies the matter.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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22. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she intends to take regarding the extent of the backlog in processing disability allowance claims. [37680/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made in a timely manner. My Department understands the pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently.

The processing time for individual Disability Allowance (DA) claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity in terms of the main qualifying criteria, the person’s circumstances and the information the person provides in support of their claim.

When determining someone’s suitability for DA, evidence must be examined in respect of the applicant’s medical condition, the extent to which it restricts them from taking up employment, their means and their habitual residency. To assist the Department to make timely and fair decisions on applications, applicants should ensure that they complete the form fully and attach all the supporting documentation required as per the checklist provided on the application form. It is critical that applicants provide comprehensive details about their medical conditions at the outset to best support their claim.

Many applicants submit their forms before securing all necessary supporting documentation to establish an early entitlement date. While this is understandable, claims with incomplete information typically take longer to process.

My Department has introduced a wide range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the processing of claims, supported by modern technology in recent years. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised.

Recent process improvements have positively impacted applicants DA determined and I am pleased to inform the Deputy that we are currently meeting our processing target for the DA scheme, which aims to award 75% of applications within 10 weeks. The average processing time for DA claims has remained at 6 weeks for several months. These processing improvements occurred at a time where increases in DA applications grew by 10% over the past year.

If the Deputy has a specific case they would like my officials to examine, I encourage him to forward the details for consideration.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.