asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he is aware of the many complaints regarding delay in his Department in dealing with welfare claims and if he will issue an explanatory statement advising applicants of the best method of application.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare Claims.
9.
I am aware of allegations of this nature concerning the processing of claims for social welfare benefits by my Department and I must say that I am not satisfied with the present situation. However, many of the delays are caused by factors outside the control of the Department. For example, neglect by a claimant to send in required details, medical certificates, et cetera. It is my wish that the service to the public, whom we serve, would be speeded up and made as humane as possible. While accepting that delays on occasions do occur as a result of some fault in my Department for which I accept responsibility, the Deputy must understand that the requirements as laid down in legislation by the Oireachtas must be complied with in all cases. I think it should be appreciated that my Department deal with well over 500,000 new claims of all types per annum, an average of well over 10,000 new claims per week, and it is only natural that some human error will occur in this volume but I can assure the Deputy that I am most anxious that any delay due to this factor will be brought down to the absolute minimum.