asked the Minister for Social Welfare if it is his intention to honour the pledge, contained in the Joint Programme for Government, that a fundamental reform of the social welfare system will be undertaken with a view to its implementation within the lifetime of the Government.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare System Reform.
2.
In the light of the commitment in the Programme for Government, a Commission on Social Welfare was set up in August 1983 to undertake a fundamental review of the social welfare code. It is expected that the commission will publish its findings in the autumn. Its conclusions and recommendations will enable a fundamental reassessment to be made of the future direction of the social welfare system.
Does the Minister accept that the administration of the social welfare system is breaking down? For example, there seems to be an industrial dispute in the Minister's Department and it is not possible to get through to make an inquiry. There have been delays in the payments of disability benefit and in the length of time it takes to process unemployment assistance claims, which was highlighted yesterday in the House. Pending the findings of the Commission on Social Welfare, does the Minister accept that he should take action to ensure that the system works efficiently?
Yesterday I dealt extensively with the difficulties in the Department. Every effort is made to deal expeditiously with claims and, on average, the maximum delay is one to two days.
Could the Minister tell us what he is doing to ensure improved efficiency? Surely he accepts that there is a delay of 17 weeks in processing a claim for unemployment assistance, a 21 week delay in processing a claim for deserted wife's allowance and that these delays are intolerable as these people are means tested and have no other source of income.
As I explained to the House yesterday, there are limitations on staff and this has contributed to some of the delays. However, I dealt with the Deputy's question yesterday.
Does the embargo on jobs in the public service apply to the Department of Social Welfare in view of the fact that the workload in that Department has doubled since this Government came to office? Has the Minister any plans to ensure that sufficient staff will be appointed to improve the efficiency of the service?
As I stated yesterday, the staff embargo has affected the work of the Department and, although they have obtained extra staff, there are still not sufficient numbers to deal with the work.
Do officials of the Department have to investigate cases within a specified time? Furthermore, is the Minister satisfied with the deployment of staff as some areas seem to fare better than others in relation to decisions on claims?
I am not satisfied with delays of any kind. In many cases there are explanations for delays, especially in areas from which a large number of applications come. However, every effort is made to redeploy staff if a backlog of cases occurs in a certain area. Delays mostly occur in cases where assessments have to be made and where people must be interviewed. Because of the large number of such cases delays are inevitable.
Does the Minister accept that it is the statutory and moral responsibility of the Minister for Social Welfare to pay promptly benefits to people in the social welfare system who are entitled to them? At present, because of the breakdown in the administration of this Department, of which every Deputy is aware, the Minister is not discharging that solemn statutory and moral responsibility. Were it not for the supplementary welfare benefit scheme, people would be hungry. The Minister said that he did not have the necessary staff to administer the social welfare services as they should be administered and, therefore, the Government are in effect reneging on their duty to the poor and weaker sections of the community. Is that a fair summing up of the position?
The Department do not have the necessary level of staffing to provide the kind of immediate response to certain claims, particularly those which have to be means tested, because entitlement to a particular form of assistance has to be established and that is where delays can occur. This problem could be eased by providing additional staff.
So the Minister is not doing his job?
We are doing our best to get additional staff.
The Minister stated that he was not satisfied that there were delays. Is it true that there is some dispute in the Department at present and that there are delays as a result of that? Will the Minister give some information to the House about that?
That is a separate question. As far as I know there is a question down about that.
The Minister referred to delays and that is why I asked the question. I am entitled to some information regarding that.
If the Deputy puts down a question in the normal way he will get all the information. I understand there is already a question down about that problem.