My Department is committed to providing a quality customer 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.
Entitlement to carer's allowance is based on an applicant satisfying medical, means and residency conditions. In some cases there is an unavoidable time-lag involved in making the necessary investigations and inquiries to enable decisions to be made. For example, there is an onus on applicants to furnish all necessary documentation. Time can elapse through delays and applicants may not supply all of the necessary information required to support their claim.
All claims are dealt with when my Department receives them. Some decisions are made without delay. For example, 21% of new claims received since the beginning of April have already been decided.
On average 12 weeks elapse between initial receipt of claim and a decision to award carer's allowance. At the present the total number of claims is 1,555, the majority of which were received in the last eight weeks. A total of 288 or 19% of them were received in or prior to January.
About 50% of claimants are already in receipt of another social welfare payment or are a qualified adult whilst waiting for their carer's allowance entitlement to be determined. Such payments will normally continue until entitlement to their carer's allowance is determined.
The staff and other resources available to my Department are regularly reviewed having regard to the workload arising and other competing demands. The available resources are then used to best advantage in discharging my Department's obligations towards our customers and in implementing cost-effective control measure.