Vol. 480 No. 6
382 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans, if any, he has to recruit staff to the disability allowance section of his Department to help process the large volume of applications it receives. [14351/97]
The administration of the disability allowance scheme, formerly known as the disabled person's maintenance allowance scheme, was taken over from the health boards by my Department in October 1996. The initial staffing for administration of the scheme was set based on the expected volume of new claims and claims in payment at the time. Since the scheme was taken over the volume of new claims has been greater than expected and additional staff were assigned to work on the scheme. A further review of the work and staffing situation is under way with a view to ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible.
