Vol. 556 No. 2
8 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people who have applied for the carer's benefit in 2002; the length of time it is taking for applications to be processed; the number of applications currently pending a decision; and the reason there is a backlog in relation to processing these applications. [19530/02]
I am committed to providing an efficient service to all my 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.
Entitlement to carer's benefit is based on satisfying medical, employment, PRSI and residency conditions. There is inevitably a time lag involved in making the necessary investigations and inquiries to enable timely and accurate decisions to be made. In addition to the work my Department has to carry out, there is also an onus on applicants to furnish all necessary documentation. Time can elapse through delays by persons applying for benefit not supplying all the necessary information in support of their claim. Since January 2002, my Department has received a total of 1,195 applications. There are 208 claims awaiting decision and all these claims are at an advanced stage of processing.
The carer's benefit scheme has been in operation for just under two years. In the past year the number of applications has increased by over 50%. The increase in the number of new claims affects the time taken to process claims. The average time for deciding an application for receipt of the benefit is currently in the region of eight weeks, although in many cases they are processed within a much shorter timeframe. In any case, where there is a delay in processing a claim, payment is backdated to the date of original application.
The level of resources required and the standard of claim processing is kept under review to ensure that applicants receive a good quality service having regard to the conditions governing the scheme. If the Deputy has any particular case in mind where a particular difficulty is being experienced, perhaps he would advise me and I will do my utmost on his behalf.
I appreciate there are some difficulties but this income is vital to somebody who gives up their job, often at short notice, to care for an elderly relative or perhaps a loved one who has cancer. I urge the Minister to make every possible effort to do resolve this problem. I had to deal with a case recently where the officials appeared to be indifferent to the position in which the particular family found themselves. I urge that every possible effort be made to have this benefit paid out quickly.
Many people who make applications for carer's benefit come from the private sector. As Deputy Crawford said, they give up work to look after their loved ones but they do not know how long they will have to do it. They make the application and they cannot understand the reason it takes so long to be processed. These people cannot live on fresh air. They need this money.
I put down a question recently concerning the delays in all sections of the Department. These delays are not good enough. I welcome what the Minister said in reply to the earlier question about upgrading the delivery of services but at certain times of the year, particularly in summer, major difficulties are experienced in terms of getting replies from the Department. Something will have to be done about that because many of these people do not want to have to apply for this benefit. They have given up work to look after their loved ones, thereby saving the State a great deal of money, so I ask the Minister to deal with these issues as quickly as possible.
We spent a lot of time bringing the carer's benefit Bill through the House. The Minister's predecessor announced the establishment of carer's benefit approximately four or five years ago and it is disappointing to find that such a small number of people have benefited from it. Is there a deficit in terms of information because some people do not know whether they should apply while they are working or when they have stopped working? As Deputy Ring said, if someone is caring for an elderly father or mother, or a child with a severe disability, he or she may have to give up work very suddenly – we may be talking about that matter arising from later questions. Would it be possible for the Minister, through Comhairle, the other information network and perhaps the family resource centres, to produce more information on carer's benefit because it appears to generate a great deal of interest when people hear about it?
I will certainly take up that proposal and I will ask the information section of the Department to examine the possibility of greater advertisement of the availability of the benefit.
In the case of people who have a problem with income, there are other income supports available through SWA in the interim. I appreciate that does not take away from the fact that when someone makes an application for a scheme, they expect to get their money as quickly as possible. Perhaps we could examine the lead in to it in the context of benefit being made available. Eight weeks is the current turnaround time on the scheme and there are not any particular claims which are causing excessive difficulty. Currently over 20,101 people are in receipt of carer's benefit, which is a doubling of the previous figure. That is an indication that more people are taking up the scheme.
I notice a number of questions with regard to turnaround of a number of applications. I am doing my utmost in terms of raising this issue on a regular basis with a view to greater efficiency and effectiveness. It is not always the fault of my Department, however. People do not always submit the relevant information and we often give a great deal of latitude in the context of applications being made. Deputy Ring uses the parliamentary questions process effectively and efficiency and always gets his answers.
