Vol. 425 No. 7
141 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a person applying for unemployment assistance is entitled to receive help from the health board community welfare officer pending the outcome of his/her unemployment assistance claim.
Payment of supplementary welfare allowance may be made on an interim basis where a person is awaiting the determination of an application for a social welfare or a health board payment.
It is my Department's policy to minimise customer inconvenience when seeking departmental services by introducing measures which reduce the need for recourse to Supplementary Welfare Allowance. These measures are aimed at reducing the time taken by the Department to process claims for unemployment payments and where possible to pay claimants their unemployment payments from the first due date. The measures include interviewing customers at local offices when they are making claims and using existing information on household income to speed up decision making. In recent months recourse to supplementary welfare allowance, on an interim basis to those awaiting an unemployment payment, has been reduced significantly in the Eastern Health Board area following the introduction of such measures.
