Vol. 464 No. 4
82 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Education the reason it has taken three years to process an application from a person (details supplied) in Dublin 6W to have his claim for incremental credits granted; her views on whether this delay is acceptable; and if she will have arrangements made to have this allowance paid immediately. [8255/96]
I am glad to inform the Deputy that my Department has decided to award incremental credit to the person concerned in respect of two years' teaching service with a vocational education committee.
Further inquiries in relation to this case are near completion and I expect that the manner will be finalised in the near future.
Applications for incremental credit require the verification of the nature and extent of the teacher's prior service so as to ensure that an entitlement to this credit exists. By their nature these can require a number of contacts with former employers and this, coupled with the need to prioritise the deployment of resources, can result in a delay in finalising the applications. However, I can confirm that my Department is reviewing its procedures in this area with a view to significantly improving the turnabout time in the handling of these applications.
