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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Jul 1985

Vol. 108 No. 18

Adjournment Matter. - School Leavers' Unemployment Assistance.

I have raised the problem of the delay in the processing of applications for unemployment assistance by school leavers and students because many of them find that it is taking up to eight to ten weeks to have their applications processed for unemployment assistance. The economic hardship which this is bringing on themselves and their families is very serious. A ten week delay on a person's unemployment assistance claim before they receive notification of either payment or disqualification should not be tolerated by the people concerned or their families nor by the Minister of State. Most of the people who are making an application for unemployment assistance are genuinely unemployed and the number of school leavers who have been able to pick up summer jobs this year is very small. The net result is that their families, who are being forced to keep them, find that the extra financial burden laid upon them cannot be met from the resources of the family.

The provision where the income of other members of the family would be taken into account in assessing board and lodgings is, in my opinion, totally irrelevant. In many cases the family budget is already overstretched due to the fact that they may have been providing the necessary funds to keep these young people either at school or at university. It is terrible that university grants are also being assessed against them when it comes to having their means assessed for these purposes. The fact that some of those students are receiving amounts as low as £2 per week, even though they are genuinely unemployed, in my opinion cannot be tolerated. There is no way that a family on an ordinary family income, can afford to subsidise an 18-year old whose commitments, socially and otherwise, are much greater than those of a person of 12 or 14 years of age.

The Department issue nice coloured leaflets. One of them states that if a person is 18 years or over and wants unemployment assistance, he should apply at his nearest employment exchange or office on the first day of unemployment, otherwise he may lose payment. That is grand, but as far as those school leavers are concerned, they take it from that that once they apply their applications will be processed reasonably quickly. Yet, they find it takes anything up to ten weeks to have their applications processed, and sometimes, even after ten weeks, their allowances are as low as £2 to £5. The assessment taken against them with regard to living at home is wrong because they automatically become a burden on the family who have to provide food, clothing and so on, for them. Yet, if they were to move out of their own home and into a caravan next door they would not have board or lodging assessed against them.

The Minister will realise, from his constituency work, the number of young people who are seeking this type of assistance to try to maintain themselves rather than becoming a burden on their families. It is imperative that we provide the necessary staff, if it is a staff problem. I am told it is mainly a staff problem because the social welfare officers available to do this type of work are already overburdened with the regular work even before the applications of these school-leavers come on their desks. I am aware of a case in my own constituency where an applicant's file was sent to the social welfare officer on 23 May and as yet the local office has not received a reply. This is something that cannot be tolerated. I do not blame the social welfare officer because he has more work to do in a week than is possible. At present he is doing what was originally the work of two social welfare officers.

I ask the Minister of State to see what can be done to have claims processed within a reasonable time rather than allowing them to drag on and on with the result that many students borrow from other members of their family on the strength of the payments they hope to receive and then they find they do not receive any payment. This can lead to strained family relations because they are unable to repay the money borrowed. The Minister should be in a position to ask that the files of first time social welfare applicants for unemployment assistance receive priority treatment. If an investigation to see if an old aged pensioner had increased his capital since he was previously assessed was involved it would be done very quickly, but when young people apply for assistance their applications are delayed. This leads to a lack of confidence in the system. If their claims are unattended for two months, no doubt they will become disgruntled with the system. This can often lead to graver problems and to people becoming involved in crime through a lack of money. If this unemployment assistance was given to them reasonably quickly it could help to prevent them becoming involved in activities which would not be in the best interests of either themselves or the State.

The Minister might also examine the possibility of making an initial payment immediately they apply if he is not in a position to have their applications processed immediately and to make available a sum of £20 per week to each claimant until such time as the applications are processed. The reason I say that is that families can no longer afford to carry this burden of an extra adult in the household as well as providing pocket money. If we are to do anything for these young people and give them some independence in society, it is necessary that this small token sum be paid as quickly as possible.

That is all I want to say. I could go on and on, but no doubt the Minister of State is prepared to examine the position to see what he can have done to have these claims processed more quickly. I hope he will give us a commitment this evening to have them processed within a given length of time.

I think it is as well at the outset to outline briefly the procedure which is followed in dealing with applications for unemployment assistance. First, the person concerned must apply at his local employment exchange for a qualification certificate which is essentially a statement of his means and which he must have in order to determine his entitlement. The investigation of means is carried out by the local social welfare officer who reports back to the employment exchange. Generally speaking, the employment exchange then refers the papers to headquarters — section EB 13 — where a deciding officer determines the level of the person's means. If the means do not exceed the limit in his case and he fulfils the age and other conditions for receipt of unemployment assistance a qualification certificate is issued for him. This certificate is sent to the local employment exchange where another deciding officer calculates the weekly amount of unemployment assistance payable to the person. On his next visit to the employment exchange the person is informed of the amount of means assessed and payment of unemployment assistance at the rate authorised plus any arrears due commences from that date.

An applicant for unemployment assistance must be 18 years of age and as school leavers reach this age they may make their application. A very considerable number of claims are made in the June-July period when school terms end and this can obviously lead to delay in getting claims processed and into payment. As an illustration of this, the number of new claims received over recent weeks has increased from around 550 in the first week in June to over 1,200 in the week ending 12 July.

In general, the average length of time normally taken to process applications for unemployment assistance is six to eight weeks, depending on the circumstances and whether the application is straightforward or otherwise. Because of the large influx of claims at this time of the year, however, the waiting time will inevitably be somewhat longer. Priority is given at all times to processing fresh claims as opposed to other work and new claims are dealt with as speedily as possible, given the necessity for the means investigations which must be carried out. I should point out also that during the period when an application for unemployment assistance is being processed it is open to people to apply for supplementary welfare allowance where they are in need of immediate financial help. This would not be the case generally for school leavers who continue to live at home, but it is well to be aware that the scheme is there where it is needed.

The carrying out of the means assessment for unemployment assistance purposes is inevitably a source of some delay and, depending on the particular situation, this delay can be protracted. Where a person already has a qualification certificate arising from an earlier claim it will usually be possible, unless the earlier claim was made a long time previously, to put his claim into payment without the need for a further investigation. Generally speaking, however, a school-leaver would not already have a qualification certificate and his means would have to be investigated. The extent of the inquiries which must be made will vary with each case but, for example, in the assessment of the value of board and lodging, which is the most common source of means in the case of school-leavers, it is often necessary to obtain evidence of the parents' income and experience has shown that in many cases investigations are held up for some time awaiting this information.

The delays which are experienced in dealing with unemployment assistance claims, however, must also be seen in the context of the overall increase in the number of applications for unemployment benefit and assistance during recent years. Unemployment payments have increased by about 50 per cent since mid-1981 and while some additional staff have been provided it has not been possible to match fully the additional workload because of Government policy in relation to the restriction of numbers in the public service. This has put a considerable strain on areas such as unemployment assistance which involve means testing.

Within the constraints under which the Department must work, every effort is made to speed up the process of deciding claims. In the unemployment payments area an important feature is trying to ensure that claims are dealt with to the greatest extent possible at local level. The bulk of applications are now decided at headquarters — a procedure which was designed to ensure that the decisions made would be reasonably consistent and also enable claims to be registered in one central location. This procedure can, however, in itself cause delays and, in order to avoid this, the policy is to devolve decision-making to local employment exchanges to the greatest possible extent. Where this has been done it has proved very successful but, unfortunately, staffing constraints serve to limit the speed with which this policy can be implemented. The movement of papers between local employment exchanges and their branch offices can also be a source of delay and this is also being minimised as far as possible, consistent with the exchanges being able to exercise sufficient control on claims being dealt with efficiently and being able to know the up to date position on claims at any particular time.

The fact that the unemployment payments system is a paper based system limits the extent to which radical changes can be made in the administration of the scheme. In the longer term, computerisation will make significant improvements in the system. An intensive programme of review and reorganisation has been under way in the Department for some time and is already contributing significantly to efficiency and productivity. This programme encompasses nearly all of the major areas in the Department but will take several years to complete. As far as the unemployment payments area specifically is concerned, a modified computer assisted system will shortly be introduced in the biggest Dublin exchanges and this will alleviate the work situation and thereby help to speed up claim processing. Further developments in this area will be introduced as quickly as possible, subject to the availability of resources for this purpose and the needs of other areas of the Department.

I have tried to put into perspective the problems which exist in the area of applications for unemployment assistance whether for school-leavers or any other applicants. As far as school-leavers, in particular, are concerned they have the same right as any other applicants to have their claims dealt with speedily and efficiently. I am not happy, any more than anybody else is, with the delays which occur, but I am aware of the difficulties and constraints which exist in trying to bring improvements in the situation. There are particular difficulties at present, arising from the influx of claims from school leavers during recent weeks. The ability of the Department to absorb this influx quickly has to be seen in the context of the already enormous administrative pressure on the employment exchanges, outdoor inspection staff and the headquarters sections involved in administering the unemployment payment schemes. Administrative practices are being adapted as far as possible to cope with the increasing workload and every effort is being made to ensure that applications from any source are dealt with as speedily as resources allow.

A point was raised by Senator Ellis in relation to a leaflet. The Senator is aware that this leaflet was issued. Its purpose was to ensure that all school-leavers would be aware of their entitlements. The leaflet helps to remove some of the mystery surrounding the application process for unemployment assistance. I would not like the House to get the impression that arrangements could be made to effect immediate payments of unemployment assistance for school-leavers or, indeed, for any other applicants following on their applications and before any investigation as to means was carried out.

The ideal position would be the abolition of the means test, but that is not possible, certainly at present. Similarly, I do not think it would be possible, administratively or any other way, to bring in a scheme whereby immediate payment could be made, because there is a fallback. If an individual is in hardship and in need of urgent assistance there is the other scheme — the supplementary welfare allowance — to cater for that eventuality. That does not, as I said, cover the situation where a student is living at home. However, if the household circumstances are very bad, the parents can qualify for the supplementary welfare allowance.

In conclusion, I assure Senators that every effort will continue to be made to process these claims as quickly as possible, having regard to all the difficulties that I have mentioned.

The Seanad adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 September 1985.

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