Vol. 467 No. 3
2 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to remedy the deficiencies in the administration of social welfare schemes as outlined in the recently published annual report of the Ombudsman. [13158/96]
9 Mr. M. Ahern asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the high number of complaints in relation to his Department; and the steps, if any, he will take to remedy this situation. [13050/96]
29 Mr. Lenihan asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on the recently published annual report of the Ombudsman. [12998/96]
55 Mr. Browne (Wexford) asked the Minister for Social Welfare his response to the comments of the Ombudsman in his 1995 annual report wherein he stated that he received many complaints where citizens were not given adequate information by his Department in relation to schemes operated by his Department. [13051/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 2, 9, 29 and 55 together.
The Ombudsman's report for 1995 which was published last week shows that a total of 574 complaints against my Department were received by his office in 1995. This figure shows a reduction on 1994 when the number of social welfare cases received was 712. There has been a steady reduction in recent years in the number of social welfare complaints made to the Ombudsman. The number in 1992 was 820.
The Ombudsman completed action on 550 social welfare complaints during 1995, of which well over half were either discontinued, withdrawn or not upheld.
In considering the number of complaints, regard has to be had to the huge scale of my Department's operations. A measure of this is given by the fact that my Department makes over one and a half million decisions on individual entitlements during the course of a year. Another interesting statistic for comparison purposes is the number of appeals made to the social welfare appeals office against decisions given on claims made by my Department's deciding officers. In 1995 a total of 12,353 such appeals were made.
Although the trend in the number of complaints to the Ombudsman about social welfare claims is downward, I would obviously like to see a situation where there was less, and, ideally, no need for people to have to contact the Ombudsman. Our aim is to ensure that all people who claim get their entitlements as speedily and accurately as possible. This is something we are actively addressing in the context of the strategic management process within my Department.
In his report the Ombudsman states that the fundamental cause of many complaints which he receives is a failure to provide appropriate information or reasons for decisions made by public bodies. As far as my Department is concerned, the officials who administer the schemes are very aware of the importance of providing accurate information to people on their entitlements and of the need to ensure that those who make claims for social welfare payments are given full and easy to understand information about how their entitlements are worked out. We have made significant progress in this area in the last few years and further improvements will be made in future.
I welcome the publication of this report and assure the House that I will be examining all of the points made by the Ombudsman in his report for 1995 which concern my Department to see what lessons are to be learned and what actions might be possible.
Is the Minister concerned that 49 per cent of complaints in relation to all Government Departments relate to his? What precise audit procedures has he put in place within his Department to ensure that staff carry out their duties in an informative manner since the Ombudsman claimed that, while not furnishing incorrect advice, in many cases, that furnished by departmental staff was inadequate? Has any action been taken on foot of any audit procedures undertaken to provide all claimants with a better service?
It is the intention of my Department to eliminate, in so far as humanly possible, the need for any claimant to have recourse to the Ombudsman. The Deputy is correct, approximately 49 per cent of all complaints lodged with the Ombudsman relate to my Department. I have already indicated that, within the context of 1.5 million decisions annually, 572 complaints to the Ombudsman is very low, particularly since half were found to be without foundation or were withdrawn before being concluded. Therefore, the Deputy will see that those statistics are quite favourable to my Department overall. I do not say that in any complacent sense. My Department is fully aware of the need to ensure staff treat all claimants with due respect and furnish them with the fullest possible information. A bulletin will be issued to all staff shortly drawing their attention to the principles of good administration, as outlined by the Ombudsman, among other things, citizens' right to be heard, to receive sufficient information, to assistance and representation, to be given reasons and to be told what remedies are available to them. I reiterate that my departmental staff are very well informed and reminded constantly of the rights of all claimants who seek assistance from our offices. Given the relatively low level of complaints to the Ombudsman, compared with the overall number of annual decisions taken by my Department, we have been reasonably successful.
The Ombudsman investigated claimants' complaints, particularly in relation to arrears or inadequate information and, in the case of one, as evident from his report, the person concerned had to wait some eight years before receiving full payment. Resulting from his investigations of claimants' complaints, will the Minister inform the House of the largest three or four payments made by his Department resulting from such investigations?
Approximately half the complaints to the Ombudsman were found to be without foundation. The case to which the Deputy refers was that of a person who applied and received an old age pension in 1973 whereas provision for an adult dependant allowance was introduced only in 1974. For one reason or another, the pensioner concerned was unaware that he could apply for such adult dependant allowance and did not learn of his entitlements until 1993. When this matter was brought to the attention of my Department, despite the fact that legislatively we are confined to paying six months arrears only, it was decided in 1993 to backdate arrears due to him to 1985. In 1993 the Ombudsman asked my Department to reconsider the matter, which was done, when it was agreed that arrears be paid from 1985 to 1993. This was a specific case with attendant specific circumstances. Responsibility for claiming any benefit must rest on the shoulders of those who believe they have an entitlement. It would be impossible for my Department to seek out every individual who might have an entitlement to ensure they receive it. We do our best in terms of information leaflets, television and newspaper advertising, a whole range of methods to disseminate information, through the Department's information officers, through the National Social Service Board, information, unemployment and women's information centres but ultimate responsibility to claim must lie with an applicant and it would be impossible to put that onus on the Department.
