Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 5 Oct 2000

Vol. 523 No. 3

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

David Stanton

Question:

116 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of carer's allowance applications awaiting processing; the average time it takes to process such an application; the extra resources he is making available to speed up the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21014/00]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

My Department is committed to providing an efficient service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply.

There are currently some 2,350 carer's allowance applications awaiting determination, the majority of which are at an advanced stage of processing. The average time for deciding an application for receipt of the allowance is currently in the region of 12 weeks. Any award of the allowance applies, of course, from the date on which application is made.

In determining entitlement to carer's allowance there are medical, means and residency conditions to be satisfied and there is inevitably a timelag involved in making the necessary investigations and enquiries to enable decisions to be made. The Deputy will also be aware that in recent years there have been a number of very significant improvements to the scheme. The number of persons who now receive a carer's allowance has increased by 44% from 10,330 at the end of December 1997, to 16,125 at the end of September 2000.

The substantial increase in the number of new claims affects the time taken to process claims generally. My understanding, however, is that there have not been significant delays in processing applications for carer's allowance.

Whilst the number of new carer's allowance claims has increased, arrangements have been put in place to process claims as expeditiously as possible. The significantly increased number of claims under the scheme has put additional pressure on the scheme area involved. The level of resources required and the standard for claim processing will be kept under review to ensure that claims receive a good quality service having regard to the conditions governing the scheme.